White Tower
by Queaky
Summary: AU of OoT. Link, the youngest son of the Lord of White Tower, is happy with his very large family even if he finds himself lonely... but due to strange events Link will find himself thrust into a web not easily untangled. Monsters, mayhem, and murder is not easy for a boy of ten to battle... let alone while he shoulders a Fate that will determine the course of History.
1. Chapter 1

It has been a while, my friends!

I just want to say that I THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for all the wonderful reviews and favorites I've recieved of late! It has really helped me get through this horrible writer's block I've had.

:) That being said:

This is the story that I promised...wow, last Xmas, I have had little to no time, energy, or creativity since then in regards to the fanfiction but it has been renewed and I have taken some lengths to piece together these 12 chapters (the 13th being written today) as best as I could. I don't like the flow of a few of them but I am as happy as I am going to be with them and I won't be able to progress if I keep "nick-picking".

This was initially inspired by the "Song of Ice and Fire" books ("Game of Thrones" for those who watch the T.V series) but it has taken a different turn than expected.

I think its a good thing!

This story is still in progress and will be a long journey but I am ready for it! I hope to update once every week at least if not twice... it depends on how busy I am (I am in the process of moving).

Hmmm, well I guess I don't have anything else to put. If you have any questions/ you are confused/ see a glaring mistake, please comment and I will get to you!

With that said, Nintendo owns everything from the LOZ series! (and my life)

Please, read & review!

With much love,

Queaky

* * *

He could feel the dirt and rocks pressing into his barefeet though he did not feel the usual sting and he laughed, reveling in the scent of the earth. The cool grass awaited him just feet away and the land seemed to stretch out to occupy all of the energy that was coursing through his eight year old body.

The boy released a whoop of excitement, lept, rolled and slammed straight into tall strong legs. Grey-blue eyes of an elder swept into young and nervous coblat blues. "I was wondering where you had gotten off to, little one. You were supposed to check in thirty minutes ago."

The youth grinned at his father, brushed his dirty fingers through his tangled blonde locks, and stood up. "Saria wanted to play Monsters and Madiens. Sorry, Father." The boy started to pick out the dirt beneath his fingernails. "I lost track of time."

The man, aged fifty-eight, rubbed eyes framed by crows feet and frowned a mouth that was often found smiling. He was an older man but retained his youth to an extent that his face held appeal to girls less than half his age but such things did not dwell long in Lord Raven Hudson's mind. Raven had long, thining salt and pepper locks that were more black than grey and a single gold tooth from when he and the Goron Leader at the time, Darous, had brawled. He had lost, of course, being out weighed by the rock-like Darous but they held a friendship that had transcended decades.

Raven regarded his son, only eight, and tried to remember his own childhood that had been as bright as it had been war torn. "And _where_ was this game played?"

The boy took a moment to think about the next few words that would come from his mouth and said, calmly, despite the increase rate of his heart. "The Lost Woods."

"You cannot be serious, Lincoln!" A man with the light traces of his forty and three years showing exclaimed. "Brother, we have warned you countless times not to-"

A voice, rich as the soil beneath their feet and as old as the forest they stood in, spoke. "Do not worry, Lord Jason, I have watched over your sibling while he played. He was in no danger with Saria there as she would not hurt her friend for all she is worth."

"Great Deku Tree, I thank you for that kindness." Raven bowed, slightly at the waist, and turned to his youngest son with eyes that made a horrible attempt at sterness. "Lincoln, leave us, and _please_ try to stay in the Village... we shall be departing in one hour so beware of the time." The Lord turned back to the large sacred Tree which spanned two hundred men, arm to arm, in circumference and who's canopy stretched the length of half the forest in whole.

The fourth son of Lord Raven dashed off and manuevered his way through the twists and turns of the path that led to the Deku Tree's grove. Kokiri Village appeared before him after a moment as a long stretch of hollowed out tree trunks and wooden shacks.

Some were painted bright reds with bands of yellow and white encircling them while others were solid green or speckled with flecks of the rainbow. One particular house, however, had a large sprout growing on the top and although it held no color on its outside walls, it was Lincoln's favorite.

He waved to The Triplets and dodged another of the Eternal Children as he jerked a rock out of the ground, effectively doing a clumsy backflip. The girl atop the Shop screamed a greeting which the boy returned, Fado who loved to be the highest of all her brethren made mention that Saria was looking for him, and finally there was Mido. The self proclaimed leader of the Kokiri frowned at Lincoln from a freckled, pale face that adorned a top of orange-red hair. His green eyes were disapproving but still he did not say anything.

"Hey, Mido!" Lincoln called, wanting to be friendly.

"Hmph!" The eternally twelve year old scrunched up his nose much like the boy's grandfather used to when forced to take Tonic and whipped around to returned inside his own home.

The eight year old shrugged and skidded to a stop in front of Saria's door which was merely cloth before an open hole in a carved out trunk. "Saria?"

"She isn't here, Lincoln." A tiny blue orb greeted the child and within it stood a young girl who was clothed in many tiny gold leaves that made up a skirt and top.

"Well...where is she?" The boy asked, eyeing the Faerie. He knew the Fae was not Saria's for his friend's was pink and had long light pink hair down to her feet where this blue one had a short crop that stuck out everywhere.

"The Sacred Meadow." The girl answered, slyly.

"Well, do you know where that is?" He frowned, disliking the feeling that he was being jerked around.

"Few do." The Faerie replied, smirking. "You want me to take you?"

Lincoln rose a brow. "Wouldn't your partner be upset?" All Kokiri had a Faerie partner to help guide them where their own wisdom faltered. Raven had told his son that it was because they could not grow up to harness all that they had learned and use it without causing great mischief, so, the Deku Tree formed a pact with the Faerie King to create the partnership that helped balance the Children out.

"I don't have one..." A long akward pause.

The boy frowned. "Oh... I'm sorry, um...?"

"Navi." The tiny girl beamed, her light growing brighter. "My name is Navi."

"Pleased to meet you. My name is... well, you already know that... Call me Link then." The two stared at each other for a long while and just as the boy thought he might not get to play with Saria anymore... a thought occured."Navi, would it be possible for you to take me to the Sacred Meadow?"

"It is!" Navi swirled around him, excitedly, and then perched herself onto his shoulder, resting a tiny hand on his pointed ear. "Forward!" The boy did so, however, too fast and nearly caused the young Fae an accident. She scowled at him. "Sloooowly."

Link laughed, blushing. "Sorry, this is, uh, this is new to me."

Navi smirked. "New is fine. Trying to kill me is not."

The boy rolled his eyes. "To the Sacred Meadow then?"

"As long as you listen." Navi giggled.


	2. Chapter 2

The Lost Woods.

A place of confusion, intrigue, and danger boiled into a network of vile side paths that could led unwary travelers into their doom...or perhaps to the Forest's Sacred Meadow- A complete labyrinth in itself filled with monsters and mayhem.

Like the Deku Scrubs which were an odd lot who could be just as friendly as they could be cruel. They made up much of the trouble that inhabited the Lost Woods and was one reason why Saria had bestowed upon her friend, Lincoln, the Kokiri Sword.

Navi the Fae examined the blade a moment in front of the entrance to the infamous wood and settled herself, cross legged, on the blade for the youth had been ordered to hold it flat. "You hold this thing surprisingly steady."

Link quirked his jaw and felt himself go on the offensive. "So?"

"You're eight and kids like you barely know how to somersault."

The lordling frowned at the Fae. "I have been taught the basics of a blade and for your information I can do _more_ than somersault."

"Oh, _really_?" Navi laughed. "Come then, let's see it."

And to her surprise, the eight year old could do a neat arieal flip though he landed slightly unsteady on his feet. "See?" He took a deep breath, winded. "Easy."

"Uh-huh." Navi giggled, knowing he was just trying to impress her. "Listen, Link... I am just worried that you might not be able to get through this thing..." She fluttered up before his face with a look he could tell meant she was second guessing herself.

"Why?" He sheathed the sword on his back then screwed his face up to hold back a sneeze but, luckily for the Faerie, he covered his mouth with his arm. "Why?" The boy murmured, once more, before he sneezed another time than sniffled. This was the third epidsode he had, had while in Navi's prescence. "Navi, I... I think I might be allergic to you."

Navi blinked for she had never seen someone who could be allergic to a Faerie before. "You...might be..." She shook her head, her short blue locks tumbling about, and placed her hands on her hips. "You're just not used to Faerie Dust. Anyways, there are monsters in there and the more I think about it the more I don't think you should go in there." Navi huffed. "Besides, you don't even have a shield."

"The shop has one for forty rupees. Wait. Right. Here!" Link grinned and quickly dashed away before his new companion could question how an eight year old had that kind of money. When he returned he shoved the item in her face and smirked. "Shield."

"Not the point." Navi rolled her eyes. "Can you even use the stupid thing?"

He shrugged and slipped around her with a wink. "One way to find out!" Shadows filled in behind the youth as he disappeared into the maze of the Lost Woods with a confident grin and a blantant bravery that shocked Navi.

"Hey! Wait up!"

The darkness filled her vision and it was not until she appeared on the otherside that it she heard it.

A light sound of festive music whispered from somewhere...but _where_?

"Link, do you-"

"Shh." He pressed a finger to his lips and closed his eyes... "This way." He raced into the tunnel to the right and skidded to a halt with Navi at his side. Directly across from them below the ledge they were on was a tree and on the single deformed branch of said tree was a bright orange Deku Scrub.

"You must be that Link character that Saria goes on about." It rustled and shuffled to the edge of the branch where below hung a pot painted like a target. "I heard you have good aim."

"Scrub," Link frowned. "I don't have time for this. Have you se-"

"If you can hit the center of this pot here." It banged the indicated spot. "Then I will give you something worth your time."

Navi jerked at Link's earlobe. "Deku Scrubs are tricksters, Link! Don't do it!"

"Hey, Faerie, shut your mouth and stop bossin' the kid around!"

Navi stepped closer to her friend. "I'm not bossy."

"The hell you aren't, Fae! You're Navi, right? You're the Faerie who lost her partner because you couldn't keep your mouth shut!"

Link growled and grabbed a rock. He aimed, quickly, and hurled the item at the center of and it the pot so hard it snapped from the rope it had been tied to and clanged to the bottom. "Words cut deep but I guarentee my blade will cut deeper, Scrub!"

The Scrub shrank and its colors paled. "Okay, okay, okay! Don't do anything hasty! I'm sorry, little blue girl! i didn't mean it."

Link smirked, snatched up another rock, and glanced at the creature. "I didn't hit it three times...but if you hang it up, quickly, then I will claim my prize, gladly."

It blinked at him for a moment and shifted on its wooden feet. "Tell ya what, I'll give you the prize... but, uh, don't tell anyone I did."


	3. Chapter 3

Navi sighed. "I guess you didn't need my help after all."

They had taken a left after meeting the Deku Scrub and, to Link's utter bewilderment, found an odd stone gate that held tribal writings of the Gorons.

The boy turned to the glittering, glowing, tiny girl and smiled, softly. "Of course, I need your help! Did you think I can find my way out of here without you?" He tied his prize, a bag of forty Deku Seeds, to his belt.

Lincoln's words seemed to cheer the Faerie up and she flew over to where the Hyrulean was trying to decipher the gate. "Um, Link? Shouldn't you be trying to find Saria?"

His eyes lit up and he smacked his forehead. "I almost forgot! I'll have to come back to this later! I only have an hour!" He turned to Navi. "Do you think you could bring me back here another day?"

She beamed. "I would love too!"

A right took them to a deep pool of water that sparkled in the golden rays of sunlight that fell from the Deku Tree's canopy. The eight year old discovered yet another door beneath the surface of the crystal waves but, with advice from his new friend, he chose not to dive beneath the depths to see where the opening lead.

Another left, straight, yet another left, and finally a right before the music became a constant beat. It lifted the spirit and brought earthen scents to mind with its upbeat melody.

Lincoln had began to whistle the notes in harmony when a great howl broke through the air and stopped all sounds of merrymaking. Cobalt eyes watched two wolfos claw their way out from a secret grotto beneath the cover of high grass. Their yellow eyes burned with rage and hunger and it was apparent to the boy that they were quite desperate for food... they were but skin and bone.

"Link, go back, run!" Navi cried but, before her voice could bring reason to the mind of the child, the monsters attacked.

A fierce and chilling swipe from razor claws came at the lad with blinding speed and it caught the front of his white tunic and red vest.

Lincoln rolled to the side and banished his sword. "Get back!" He growled, shoving his only form of protection, the wooden Deku shield, in front of his face just before a set of jaws almost found his flesh.

"Link!" Navi screamed, heart pounding and little body shaking from fear. "Be careful!"

The next time one of the creatures came at him, Link charged back and cut a red line across the muzzle and slammed his wooden shield into its face with as much force as he could. Adrenaline pumping, he spun quickly on the tips of his feet and lunged... yellow eyes stared back from between a silver blade then Death glazed over the hunger that filled them and pulled the monster from its misery and desperation into her Land of Souls.

Lincoln shivered as a howl of agony and loss cut through the air, tumbling from the throat of the other wolfos. The eight year old turned and raised his shield, suddenly exhausted. The wolf-cousin stared at the boy for a long while before it moved...

Large canine teeth bit down on the wooden shield and ripped it from the child's hand. Those powerful jaws spintered the wood; broken it fell to the side with a _clomp_; and snarled at Link with such malice that his brave heart faltered.

The Wolfos crouched low and then sprung off its hind legs, tackling into the lordling, with its teeth ready to crush his skull. Link felt the ground slam into his back and the _whoosh_ of air as he lost his breath, he was dazed for a second until Navi's blue form sped into his vision.

"Get away from him!" Her tiny voice screamed. "Let Link go!" Navi threw herself at the monster's forehead. A light came from her hands but, for all her bravery, she was merely swatted to the side where she hit the ground with a sickly snap like the sound of a twig.

The boy slammed his barefeet into the wolfos' stomache and stuck his weapon into its ribs for he could not reach its head with how he was pinned. He rolled backwards and as he did he felt the painful tearing of his own flesh. He planted his feet into the ground and staggered to stand, the scorching sensation of its claws burned on his back. Lincoln lifted his sword.

The feeling of wetness trickled down his back and bloomed roses onto the white of his breeches... Link wondered if he might die from it then released a cry of fury and pushed all that was left into him in the jump that he made toward the beast which was savagely licking the blood on its claws...his blood...

The impact made his whole body tingle and Death slithered the length of the sword into the wolfos where Lincoln had left a head to be wanted. Lincoln took a deep, lightheaded breath. "I...won..." He did not hear Navi scream as he passed out.

When he awoke, he heard a great roar of commotion that he soon realized were voices... some were angry, others afraid, but one was calm and whispered to him...

_"Be brave, child of mine... be brave and all will be well... Go, back... We have need of you."_

Another cut through the calm voice and it took a moment for the boy to find its name...

"Father?" Lincoln murmured with a vague notion that he was in a pool of water. "Am I dead?" The thought occured to him that he could be in his own blood...and it made his stomach churn.

"No, son." Raven smiled and lifted his child up out of the liquid to lay him ontop of a straw mat. "You were very close though." The Lord had traces of anger locked inside the relieved tones of his voice and it hung in the air for several moments before another voice broke in.

"Why were you in the Sacred Meadow, Link?" It was Saria. The green headed, indigo eyed, pale girl dressed in a green jumper of the same color of her hair seemed odd in the assortment of people who surrounded him who were mostly red headed.

The boy frowned at his friend who looked about thirteen. "Fado, uh, said you were looking for me...and Navi said you were there." He shot up and bit his lip, hard, when a spasm of pain dug into his back. "Navi! Where is Navi?"

"Here." The girl tugged on his sleeve and a sad sight met the boy's eyes. His little friend's arm was bound in a tiny sling. "I'm okay, really!" She smiled. "Are _you_ okay?"

Lincoln smiled back, shifted, and felt a sharpness stab into his back. "My back hurts...but yes."

"You were torn into by a wolfos, Brother, you cannot expect it to hurt even with Faerie magick." Jason crouched down and ruffled the boy's hair. "How you even survived such an attack is beyond me."

"Wait, how did Navi know I was in the Sacred Meadow?" Saria asked, suddenly, with a distrubed look upon her face. "I only told-" Before anyone could ask who the person was, Saria disappeared from the Deku Tree's Grove.

It was then that the Tree spoke. "Mido has tricked you, dangerously, young Lincoln."

The boy looked up and frowned. "But, why, Sir? I have not done anything to upset him."

"He is jealous of your relationship with Saria and although he did not mean for you to get wounded so grievously, I believe, he had hoped to get you lost in the Woods." The wind rustled the many leaves atop the Great Deku Tree and set them flittering down to greet them. "He will be punished, extensivly, Lord Rave-"

"Don't." All eyes turned to the child who lay next to the basin of water that had been retrieved from a Faerie Fountain for the purpose of healing his back. "Please."

Raven gapped and Jason's face seemed angry but only the Deku Tree spoke. "I will not, if you so wish, but he does deserve it, child."

Link took a deep breath and sighed. "I know, it was a mean and vile thing he did, but I want to try and be friends and if this gets held against him than... I just want to give him another chance."

The eyes of the Tree, hollow yet full, seemed to glisten with mirth. "As you wish, Lord Lincoln." The Kokiri's Protector then turned to Raven and Jason. "My protection over you is wanning, Lords, and I think it would be best if you were to leave now or else risk being...changed."

"Do you feel strong enough to go, son?" Raven asked, large hand combing his child's blonde hair.

"Yes..." He stood with the help of his brother, Jason, and realized that he was no longer in the clothes he had arrived in... instead, he was dressed in the green of the Kokiri...

"Wait!" Navi's voice cried out and she fluttered up to the Great Deku Tree. "In my naivety, I almost cost Link his life..." She turned, momentarily, to the Lords. "A-And with permission... I was...hoping to...to, uh."

"Go on, little one." The Tree urged with a soft sway of its branches.

"May I keep watch over him... until he is healed... or does not want my prescence?"

"That matter is entirely up to him." All eyes were, again, upon the boy.

Link smiled. "Looks like you have a partner, now, Navi."


	4. Chapter 4

They arrived at their home, White Tower, before night fell.

White Tower was a castle fortress nestled deep in the hills of Death Valley. The whole of it made of pristine white stone mined from the top of Death Mountain and it was the glistening image of the finished building that gave it its name however small folk had birthed stories about some haunt being cleansed from its halls by a host of magick priests which resulted in the once grey stone turning the color of snow.

That story was almost completely false.

It had been the home of the Hudsons for many generations and had gathered many secrets about it over the centuries... one that even explained the miles of lush forest that spread down to Oakhale in Kakariko Village which Myra, another child of Raven, oversaw with her husband, Henrick Waterworth.

Lincoln felt his whole back protest as he pulled himself up from the feather mattress that he was never more grateful for. The draught that he had been given left him groggy but after a while his head was clear enough for him to dare move his feet over the edge of the bed. His blue eyes rolled over the room and found the silohette of a form which he knew to be his older brother, Rowan. Link scrunched his nose in thought for the memory of his sibling's arrival was dim.

The boy heard the light sounds of snoring and wondered for a moment how long the thirty-six year old had been in that chair when it became apparent that it was not just the two of them in the room.

"Uncle?" A voice mumured, drowsily, from at the foot of the bed.

"Darion." Link smiled, softly, at the mussy haired youth and winced as his feet brushed the cool stone floor. "How long have I been asleep?"

Darion was Link's second oldest nephew at eighteen years and Jason's only child. The young man had brown locks that curled, slightly, around a face that had a child-like quality to it though it was appealing enough and dark green eyes that were almost black. "You have been asleep for nearly eight days, little Uncle." A smile on thin lips. "It is good to see that you are awake though."

Link frowned. "I-I don't remember falling asleep... only the draught. Is that common?"

Darion had only been granted Master Healer status, recently, but he had some experience in brewing potions though there were famous stories of various explosions he had caused. The eighteen year old appeared comically offended and laughed. "I may have been ordered to make it a mite too strong!"

"Was it my Mother?" Link withdrew the light weight he had tried to put on his feet and took a deep breath. His whole body still hurt from the Wolfos attack though he had undergone a Fae Healing Rite and Darion's Coma Draught.

Darion chuckled. "No. Evangaline was furious that Grandfather allowed it... I'll give you two more guesses, little Uncle, and if you do not get it then you will have to go back to sleep."

"I don't need anymore rest." Link frowned and was greeted with a snort from the just awakened Rowan.

Rowan had a gruff voice that did not match his angelic features of dark red hair and emerald eyes but the Knight of the Realm's tone very rarely turned dangerous. The Knight spoke with humor in his voice and a smirk on his face. "Little Brother, courageous you may be but invincible you are not."

"Haven't you heard, Uncle? Our dear Lincoln is an Immortal!" Darion grinned though the expression wanned when fixed with a glare from the eight year old. "I, "He cleared his throat. "was kidding."

Rowan stood and walked forward with a yawn then mussed up Link's hair, playfully. "I'm going to tell everyone you are awake, Little Link." Those emerald eyes gave Darion a hard look. "See that this one does not get out of bed, youngling."

Darion gulped and nodded. "Of course."

Rowan left with a smile then shut the door where his voice was heard shouting. "OUR LITTLE LORD AWAKES! CAN I NOW GET SOMETHING TO EAT BESIDES COLD MEAT AND BREAD?!"

Darion and Lincoln grinned at one another as the sound of rushing feet clattered out in the hall. "Brace yourself, Uncle. Your little incident has caused a family reunion."

Lady Evangaline, third wife of Raven and Lincoln's mother, burst into the room with tears spewing from her light blue eyes. She was thirty-three and a vision to behold with gleaming blonde hair and a captivating face with features given only to those of high birth. A smile graced her red painted lips as her slender arms wrapped about her son's neck.

"Mother..." Link squeezed her closer, reveled in the sudden comfort she brought him, and breathed in the smell of roses. "You've been out gardening, haven't you?"

"She wouldn't leave your side, Baby Brother, so I made her work that idle and worrying mind." Myra was the firstborn daughter at thirty-eight and had also cultivated the red hair and green eyes of her mother, Joanna Pembrose, though her orbs were closer to a jade color than emerald. Myra did not have delicate features but sharp carved ones though she still had a beauty about her.

"And you should have left her alone, dearest." Henrick Waterworth, Myra's husband, was a weak looking man with jet black hair and grey eyes but it was not his strength that Myra loved. It was his wit.

"Shut up, Henry." The man scowled and shuffled into the room, whispering obscenities under his breath, next to her as he gave a polite nod at his young brother-in-law.

Vicktor, Myra and Henrick's youngest son, burst in with a flushed face and brushed his fingers through his black hair. He looked like a masculine version of his mother though with his father's colorings. "Welcome back, Uncle!"

Darion smirked at his cousin who was eighteen like he and laughed. "Did a certain little lady help you with _your _idle hands, cousin?"

"OY! You shut your mo-"

Myra's firstborn, Bryan, walked through the door with his fiance, Freya, in tow. "I'll knock you both upside the head if you don't quit." Freya giggled but seemed content to hid behind her lover for she was a quiet girl though her wrath was furious when tested.

"I'd love to see you try!" Vicktor spout back at his brother who was six years old than he.

"Yeah!" Darion added, standing and putting an arm around his best friend and cousin.

"_Out, out with all of you!_" Myra shouted, shooing away her own two along with her nephew. The door shut and the room fell silent until a knock sounded. "Darion, if you start complai-"

"Its Thomas!" A long pause in which Lincoln's sister seemed to be ignoring their brother. "I brought drinks."

Myra opened the door with a grin which all in the room were mirroring but her smile quickly faded to disappointment when Thomas dived through the door without the promised beverages. "Damn you."

Thomas laughed a heaty laugh, brushing himself off, and walked, excitedly, over to where Lincoln laid. "Come now, Little Link, what's all this laying about? You're better now, yes? So why aren't we out hunting?" Thomas looked very different from Jason, Myra, Rowan, Anju who was Rowan's twin sister, and Lincoln. The newly knighted twenty-eight year old was comely and charming with straight, brown hair and brown eyes set on pale skin.

"It'll be sometime before our boy will be strong enough for all of that." Evangaline said with a frown tugging at her lips. "He has just awakened, you know."

"I know." Thomas sighed. "Ah, well, another day then." The Knight hitched a thumb back toward the door. "Rowan is forcing the cooks to, well, cook... Dinner should be ready in about an hour."

"Where are you going?" Link murmured, rotating each of his feet with a wince for it made his whole body hurt. He was coming to the realization his whole body must still be bruised.

Thomas dropped a small leather bag on the boy's lap and chuckled. "_I_ must go back to Castle Town, Little Link. _You_ must get better and be ready to hunt with me next time I visit." He patted Lincoln on the head, clapsed hands with Henrick, and departed with kisses from Evangaline and Myra. "Much love to you all."

Link was frowning when a voice cut into the sudden silence."What is in the bag?" Henrick asked, pulling a chair up for himself and his wife.

"Deku Nuts."

"Do you know what they are used for?"

"Stunning enemies."

Henrick smiled. "Good. Now, next time you get into a fight, Little Lincoln, you can defend yourself better."

"If it was up to me, Henrick, my son would never fight again." The familiar voice of Raven Hudson drifted in like a warm breeze during winter with a smile on his aging face. "Are you still very hurt, child?" The eldest son, Jason, stood behind him but had a face of contemplation about his features that meant he had only come because he had followed Raven out of habit.

"Sore but happy to be alive." Lincoln beamed, winking at Myra who played at poking the statuesque Jason, but a sudden thought struck him and his happy face faltered. "Father?"

"Yes?"

"Where is Navi?"

Raven chuckled. "She is being tended to by Anju and Janette." A pause. "She seems to have discovered a taste for sweets and has given herself a very bad stomach ache."

"But...she's...okay, right? Her arms has healed?"

"Completely." Raven smirked after a short pause. "You still want to see her?"

After a short but fervent protest from Evangeline, Link was allowed out of bed though only after Henrick offered to carry the boy... though Link seemed throughly annoyed by it. Henrick lifted the child up, bridal style, and chuckled when Link crossed his arms with a frown. "Tantruming will get you no where faster or more healed, Little Lincoln. Be happy that Evie has allowed you to leave at all."

The eight year old nodded with a short blush of red shame blooming on his cheeks. The journey was short to the boy's relief and soon he was swept through a cozy room used often as a nursery though it had recently become a sitting room. Janette, Jason's wife, sat sewing a small blanket with a complacent expression on her pleasant face. Janette was of a thicker body type than many of the women housed in White Tower but it fit her well. She had wavy, dirty blonde hair, and murky hazel eyes with high arching eyebrows.

"It is good to see you, Brother, but is it wise for you to be out of bed?" Anju was Rowan's twin sister and would be identical but the last five years had been fraught with several miscarriages which left her frail looking. Her emerald eyes ran, quickly, over Lincoln's body in search of ailments or bruises but when none was found she allowed herself a sad, soft smile.

Link took her outstretched hand as Henrick placed him on a plush couch. "I'm almost healed, Sister." A pause. "Is Kafei here? I haven't heard about him?"

For a moment the boy panicked because of the frantic face that appeared on Janette's but Anju answered with a calm: "We are in disagreement as of right now, Brother... I care not to dwell on it." She took a breath and looked very tired. "White Tower is a place of healing for me, you know... and I sorely need the rest."

"Eat first, dear." Janette spoke with a tone that dared protest. "The cooks shall be ringing the bell any mome-"

_DONG DONG_

Henrick frowned at the noise. "Rowan had them cook something up... No doubt it will consist of only meat and pies."

Lincoln grinned. "And you have qualms with this because...?"

"A boy cannot live off just meat and sweets, Brother." Anju scolded, gently, with a pat to his hand. "I am sure Evangeline would agree."

Janette nodded, fiercely, in agreement. "Darion ate nothing but carrots and brocoli as a boy and he has become one of the great-"

"Yes, yes, we know, Jane. Darion is a great healer. Lincoln can atest to that." Henrick rolled his eyes. "And my sons are skilled as well. Let's not bore them with a parent's ramblings."

The woman scowled at him, stood up, and huffed out the room. "I'll see you at the Dining Table."

Anju giggled, softly. "Janette is just proud, Henrick."

Link cleared his throat. "Anju... where's Navi?"

"Oh!" Her eyes grew wide and she blushed. "She is asleep." A finger pointed toward a small lump covered by a hand sewn blanket on a pillow. "She stayed with you for a long time but Janette and I made her eat something... she ate a few too many sweets."

"We heard... but she's okay, right?"

Anju nodded and squeezed his hand. "Perfectly fine... just exhausted with a small ache. Come now, Little Brother, let us take you to get something to eat."


	5. Chapter 5

The Dining Hall of White Tower had a high arched ceiling but without the intricacies Royals often demanded. There was an air of grandness sweeping all around the room stemming from the odd tapestry hanging behind the 200 person table. The fabric was a fine silk that depicted the whole of Hyrule bathed in the golden light of the Triforce embroidered by priests of the Temple of Time. A fire would normally roar in the large fireplace hanging in a large metal bowl above the table but it had been extinguished recently for the smell of wet ash, burning wood, and smoke lingered along with a degree of tension.

Henrick ignored the numbness starting to sliver through his limbs as he carried the youngest son of Raven through the large, heavy doors into the Hall. "Tonight, my boy, you may have to get another carrier."

Link laughed. "I'm sorry... you didn't have to carry me, you know."

"Evie would kill me and I would rather carry you than feel her wrath!" They both laughed at that and were beaming as they thanked the servants who shut the door behind them.

"Gods..." Rowan sat at the head of the table with a piece of some bird hanging partly out of his mouth with a very cross looking Jason next to him. "Come now, Brother. I have already gotten my plate an-"

"The head of the house sits at the head of the table." Jason's frown grew and seemed to encompass his whole face which his son, Darion, mimicked several chairs down.

Vicktor laughed and earned a glare from his older brother, Bryan, who he stuck his tongue out at. Freya giggled at the young men and tugged at her lover's arm. "Don't be so strict, Bryan. I think they are funny."

"They're childish!" He gapped at her which she also laughed at.

"You can be too, Sweetheart."

Jason tugged at the chair Rowan sat in and growled. "_Get out of the chair." _All eyes were cast to the brothers. "You do not have the authority to sit here, Rowan. Knight or no... now, stand."

"And if I don't, Brother?" Rowan growled. "Will it comes to blows because I dare sit in a chair?"

"The head of the house's chair!"

"A chair none the less."

Myra gave both an exhausted expression and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Must we really go through this every time you come to stay Rowan? The fighting really dims down the joy in seeing you."

"Shut your mouth, Myra." Rowan spat.

The eldest daughter stood so fast that her chair toppled back and her voice rose high with ferocity. "I will not have some pompous Knight of a Brother disrespect me like some street whore!" She lashed out with blinding speed and slapped the man across his mouth. "You do not tell me to shut my mouth, Rowan LeVant Hudson, or so help me Nayru I will take out your tongue with a bread knife."

Rowan grabbed both her wrists and shook her. "And I will not have you slap me like a child!"

"Let go of me!" She struggled, teeth clenched, and glared.

"Jason!" Janette tugged at her husband's arm and pleaded for him to help his sister.

Henrick dropped Link and the boy gave a cry of pain as he slammed the grey, stone floor. Myra's husband who had never been known for violence shoved Rowan so hard that the man toppled backwards on to the ground with force enough to shock him.

"Touch my wife like that ever again and I will kill you."

Rowan smirked, touching his lip with a finger to test for the blood he tasted. "Oh, will you?" The sarcasm dribbled in between the tones of anger.

Anju swooped down, gracefully, next to her brother and rested her calm, cold hands onto both sides of his face. "Brother, what madness has over taken you?" She sounded bewildered but calm in the face of the mounting violence. Her fingers wove themselves into his and pulled him to his feet, gently. "Come and lay your thoughts on my hands. Please, speak to me." The twins swept out of the room with all eyes upon their fleeting forms.

"He is under great pressure, children. Do not forsake him for this." The wise and familiar voice of Raven Hudson whispered through the silent room. "Rowan has been spending a great deal of this past year amoungst the rank of the Gerudo."

Myra untangled herself from her husband's arms for she hated to seem weak but careful eyes would notice how her knuckles were begining to color after clutching Henrick too hard. "He threatened and disrespected me then you ask me to take it lightly?" Her voice oozed with outright anger. "My patience with this violence has reached it's limit, Father, and I will not deal with it anymore." A beat in which she took a breath. "I am leaving. Now."

"But, Mother-" Vicktor stood but his mother disappeared in a flash of plum silk. The eighteen year old frowned and turned to his grandfather with eyes begging for an answer but, when the greying Lord held up his hands in exhaustion, the young man went in pursuit of his mother.

Henrick followed, shortly, after draining a goblet of wine but Byran stayed in his chair with a very Hudson-like frown on his face. Freya brushed her fingers through his hair and whispered words of comfort into his ear.

Darion had gathered his young uncle into his arms and sat the boy in a chair where he quickly had began checking for further injury. Jason and Janette had claimed seats next to Freya and Bryan though no words interchanged between the couples. Raven slid into the chair the fight had been over and placed his face in his hands.

"The Gerudo..." Jason murmured, drawing everyone's interest. "You said, he had been staying with them this past year, yes?"

Raven nodded but did not show his weary face even when his young wife joined the family in the Hall. Evangeline placed both her hands upon his shoulders as she stood behind him with a taut face on her normally joyous one.

"Why? The King would not be so foolish to forge a treaty with them now... the War is still fresh in many peoples' mind." Jason's brow furrowed and he scratched at his stubbly chin. "The country is only just recovering..."

"Edric has always been a peaceful man. He never liked games about wars and rarely endorsed violence even in his latter years." Evie frowned at the thought of her childhood playmate and once-upon-a-time suitor. "He is a trusting man but he is not too dim to see the dangers which is why he posted the Knights of the Realm in Gerudo Valley."

"A few loyal eyes wouldn't stop a rebellion."

Darion gasped and regarded his eight year old Uncle with shock at Link's understanding of what was being said while Bryan cut in with a few words of agreement. Raven lifted his head, finally, and turned his eyes from each of his sons. "This is why our beloved Rowan is so chaotic. He has been in enemy territory for so long that it will take him a while to adjust to being amoung family and allies."

"He seemed friendly earlier though." Janette frowned and plucked a piece of a cake off.

"But he has slept just as long as our Lincoln, my dear." Jason acknowledged and felt his body relax as tension and anger melted to understanding. "We shall all have to be patient for now."

"I shall go explain this to Mother... if Aunt Anju has not gotten to her first." Bryan departed with Freya at his heels.

Darion stood, stretched, and sat back down. "We all need to eat before the food gets cold... it will do us all some good especially due to the stress of the last few days and the lack of effcient meals."

"Don't let the cooks hear you say that." Raven chuckled beneath his breath and lifted the last traces of unease in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Anju knelt down and pulled her navy blue and burgundy skirts away from the edge of the fireplace. "You've been silent now for thirty minutes." She struck a two spark rocks together and nursed the ember until a flame was born. When satisfied with how the fire was burning, she stood and joined her twin where he sat on the couch. "I can feel your unease." Anju's twin still did not speak for some time after that and she allowed a comfortable silence to fall while she reminesced in childhood memories.

Rowan and Anju had always been close as children and being twins they had a special connection. They could be found following each other everywhere even to the bathroom before Brienne broke them of the "unappropriate" habit. They could sense one other's emotions and this did not stop when Anju married or when Rowan was accepted into Knighthood. When Anju gave birth to her first child, a stillborn, Rowan could feel her anguish and was the first to take her into his arms to let her weep. He had grieved when he had not been there to console her during the next woeful miscarriage but it could not be helped. Kafei, Anju's husband, often expressed jealousy over the closeness of the twins but had gotten over it after two years of marriage. She was now thirty-four and had been married to Kafei for eighteen years which had given him the ability to read her mind and emotions as well as Rowan which Anju was often thankful for.

It was Kafei who had told her she should go to White Tower for a few weeks of healing after another pregnancy failed and it was during these weeks that Lincoln's accident had happened.

"I..." Anju was startled when her brother spoke but smiled to encourage him. Rowan swirled his words around in his mouth before he spoke without looking at his sister. "We... I have been living with the Gerudo for the last eight months."

"I read your letters." She leaned back as warmth seeped into her bones. "I hated you being there, Brother, amoungst all of those..." Anju snarled her nose up as if she had been over taken by a vile smell. "Odd folk." She settled on the nicest word that came to mind but still retained the same face.

Rowan smirked and shook his head, lightly, then looked into his sister's shared emerald eyes "You meant savage and, Dear Heart, you are wrong." Anju did not feel offended at Rowan's words and he could feel her readiness to learn. He continued after a brief contemplation. "As a People they were very... friendly, I suppose is the best words, even if they were immodest, impolite, and blunt."

"I've heard stories that the women walk bare." Anju blushed at the thought and both laughed.

"They do." Rowan grinned. "I cannot say that it upset me much but it was a culture shock."

Anju allowed her lips to curve upwards into a smile as she poked fun at her brother. "Nude women are what unnerved you, Brother?"

"Only the ugly ones."

"You should be ashamed of yourself." Anju scolded, playfully, and tapped the side of his face with her hand where Myra had done so previously. The action did not earn his wrath and instead illicted a smirk. "Let us disregard nakedness for a while. Please, Ro, continue."

Sighing, Rowan continued with measured thoughts. "The Gerudo are really to be admired for living in such conditions and for so long. They are a strong, willful, and loyal to a fault... but something was hovering over them that made everything they did seem puppet like. All of their movements seemed coordinated and after a while I realized that this was not normal behavior for a People so free as them."

"You think they were being controlled?" Anju frowned at the thought. "Brother, such magicks are forbidden and some say they do not exist anymore... perhaps you were mistaken."

Both knew he was not and he voiced this. "No." A sense of dread crept into his stomach and he had to fight with his limbs to keep from flying about the room. Rowan felt eyes burning holes into his skull and a hatred pouring forth from somewhere but, he could not see those orbs he was sure were the color of fire nor could he pin point where the hate was on a map. However, Rowan knew it was in the sea of sand that tumbled across the hot dunes of Gerudo Valley.

"Brother?" Anju took her twin's hand and squeezed it. "Rowan, what are you afraid of?" The lady despised having to say that her sibling was afraid but she needed to know for both of their sakes.

"A man. The Gerudo's King of Thieves..." The Knight of the Realm took a shaky breath and stared into his sister's emerald eyes while ghostly fingertips trailed up his spine leaving goosebumps in their wake. "Ganondorf."

"We must tell Father."

Rowan finally stood and paced; the action sending him to and fro at such a pace that it worried Anju. He was in a more frenzied, panicked state than she had ever seen him or felt off of him in weeks. "Father will think me insane or paranoid over the Treaty... No, no, I don't think that would be wise."

A feminine voice was a husky accent broke in and a shadow melted from the darkness untouched by the fire's light. "Pardon my dropping of eaves but it was deemed nessacary by Lord Raven." Adele had pure, white hair at the tender age of fourteen and blue eyes so bright that they rivaled Link's own. Her skin was several shades lighter than a Gerudo's while sharp, pointed features prevailed upon her face that was embellished with markings of the Shiekah which she was apart of.

Rowan scowled, hiding his fury well. "Was it now?"

"Calm yourself, Sir Rowan." Adele spoke with a calm and stoic tone that surpassed her fourteen years. "Lord Raven was worried about your state of mind and had to attend to Lady Myra before she departed." She paused and looked him straight in the eyes. "It seems Lord Raven was wise in this decision."

"How so?" Anju questioned and opened her heart to gauge how her brother felt about this new development. She did not like what she found.

"The Gerudo King, Ganondorf, seems threatening if the observations that Sir Rowan made are correct. This news should be reported to Lord Raven and I am going to inquire, now, on whether you intend on doing so."

"You would rely information from an indirect and emotionally unstable source?" Rowan's voice trembled with anger and annoyance though the rest of him stood stark still. "... Answer me, girl."

Adele rose a brow and ignored his disrespectful tone. "You do not trust your own judgement, Sir Rowan? You were a Knight for six years and have been a Knight of the Realm for eight. So, yes, Sir Rowan, I would trust information from you no matter the circumstance." A pause. "I ask, again, will you rely this information to Lord Raven yourself or shall I have to, Sir?"

"What you can _rely_ to him is a message. Tell him I wish to speak, _privately_, with him."

Adele bowed. "Aye, sir."


	7. Chapter 7

Rowan lifted Link up and placed him upon Spirit's back, gently. "Take it easy, my boy. Your Mother is watching and we would hate to give her a scare."

Lincoln scratched the old mount and smirked, feeling much better than he had in the last two weeks of recovery. "We would." The eight year old Lordling shifted ontop of the saddle and could not help the grand smile that cracked wide on his face. He missed riding with a passion and hated being confined to his bed... which Evangeline had forced upon him even after Darion promised he was fit enough to go fight another pack of Wolfos.

"Navi, go ride with our boy, would you?" Evie spoke, softly, and managed a half hearted smile when her son glanced her way. "I am very worried and it would do my heart good to know you are with him." The Lady of White Tower wrapped her arms about her self and leaned against the stable's doorframe as a breeze picked up. Her dresses whipped about her legs and enveloped her as if Farore had heard her prayers to keep Lincoln safe.

Navi was perched atop Evangeline's shoulders and the wind had pushed her off so that she had to catch herself. "I'll go... but, really, Milady, you shouldn't worry so much."

"He is my only child and I will not regain him only to have him die on some old horse's back!" Evie immeadiatly regretted the fury in her voice and held out her hands for the Fae to land upon. "I am so sorry, Little One."

"It's okay. I'll go with him." Navi placed her hand on Evangeline's thumb and squeezed it. "We'll just go around the trail and come back." The Faerie dived from the Lady's hand and flew, gracefully, to where Link was. "Ready?"

The boy grinned, flexed his fingers, rotated his shoulders, and then gripped the reins. "Yes!"

"Go around the trail and no further, Sweetling!"

Raven turned and gave a reassuring smile to his young wife as Link called to her. "Of course, Mother!" Lincoln urged Spirit out the back of the stable and grinned at one of the Hands that greeted him. Navi nestled herself between Spirit's ears and turned back to see her partner's beaming face.

"Take it easy, Link."

He urged his horse into an even trot and turned the mount out of the large wooden gates. "I feel great! I'm fine. I don't understand what all the fuss is about."

"You almost _died_." The girl frowned and crossed her blue arms. "If you haven't noticed, everyone cares about you. _A lot_."

A short dirt path opened up into the wide expanse of forest that surround the gleaming White Tower and it diverged into two after a several minutes of transversing it. One curved out toward Kakariko Village and Myra's home Oakhale which was a wood and stone manor built when she married Henrick. Henrick governed Kakariko with gentle hand with Myra next to his side but had recently allowed his wife to station sanctioned guards about it's perimeters due to the troubles about the infamous Gerudo Treaty. The other path slipped, quietly, into the lush growth. The hunting trails of White Tower was rich with various species of birds and beasts that supplied White Tower and Kakariko Village with its meat.

Link halted Spirit and stared down into the green path, feeling a quickening of his heart which he did not like. He swallowed his blooming cowardice and clicked the reins with less enthusiasm then when he set out with. "I know." He had remembered Navi's previous statment and replied though silence had overcome them several minutes ago.

"Daydreaming, again?" The Fae smirked, noticing the signs of fear tracing her charge's face.

"Maybe." The boy answered in monotone for his mind was now conjuring up the shadows of yellow eyed beasts where he knew none lurked. Link gripped the reins, tightly, and gritted his teeth together as terror seized him.

Navi's eyes grew wide and she shot up to look him in the eye. "Link, Link, listen to me." She spoke with ferocity that demanded his attention. Navi could feel his anxiety radiating off of him and, as his bright blue eyes focused at her, she could see it. "I will never let anything hurt you, again." Navi's tiny hand looked odd against Link's larger cheek but it quelled some of his fears. "Never."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." The boy mumured, stopping Spirit before the horse descended any further into the forest's shadows.

"Fine, then." Navi spoke without losing the seriousness in her voice. "You will never have to fight alone again as long as I am by your side. I will never abandon you."

Link bowed his forehead and smiled. "Thank you." The two sat for a long moment as Link calmed down and allowed the weight of his partner's words to set in.

"Are you ready to continue?"

"I..." Lincoln shifted and bit his lip, shrugging. "I don't know if I can, Navi..."

"We'll go slowly, then." Navi slipped the reins away from his hands and flicked them to start Spirit forward. "We'll take our time."

A soft rustle was heard as the pair rounded a bend and a Deku Nut was, swiftly, retrieved from the pouch that Thomas had given the boy. Navi rocketed out toward the noise and gasped, flipping to a stop, before she crashed into a black breastplate with White Tower's grey, howling wolf painted on it. "Goddesses, Thomas!" The Faerie screamed, kicking at the metal with her foot though she dared not actually hit it. "You scared me!"

The twenty-eight year old laughed. "Sorry, Little Fae, I did not mean to scare you." His brown eyes lifted to Lincoln where they seemed to narrow with slight annoyance. "Dear Little Brother, why do you enjoy scaring us so much?"

Link frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You have been gone for nearly an hour!" The man laughed. "I have just arrived for another visit and, as soon as I pass through the door, Evie came flying at me like some crazed Poe screaming about how you've gone missing." Thomas strod over and leaned against the old horse with a broad grin. "I was sent on a mission to retrieve you, Little Link, and here I come upon you not a ten minute gallop away!

"I..." Shame washed over the child and he hung his head to hid it.

Thomas' face lost all mirth as he gazed at his young brother. "Hey, now." He titled Link's chin up and stared into those bright blue orbs... finding a scared, shameful boy that he was not used to seeing there. "Lincoln, what is wrong? You can tell your Brother, can't you?" Thomas smiled, softly, when no reply came. "Come now, what secret has you so worked over? You have never not told me before so why stop now?"

Navi landed on Lincoln's shoulder and whispered words of comfort into the boy's pointed ear. Link's shoulders sagged and he stifled a sob. "I-I... I am..." His voiced faltered and his body shuttered as tears flowed forth from his blue eyes. "Afraid." The word came out as soft as a light breeze and Thomas was not sure he heard it though not because of how quiet it was.

Lincoln, even at such a young age, had never shown an ounce of cowardice and would run headlong at obstacles. The eight year old had not been afraid when he learned to ride Spirit at four whom had been a much more alive four years prior. Link was out hunting with his brothers at the tender age of five, killed his first beast at six, and was a prodigy with the sword for he could hold his own with Vicktor though the twenty year old always won.

Thomas brushed away the boy's tears, quickly, and grabbed his shoulders, giving Link a small shake. "Hey, hey, calm down." His voice hardened when the tears continued to shed. "Lincoln Amadeus Hudson, you stop this weeping!"

Link hiccuped and stopped.

Thomas smiled but allowed an edge to remain. "You have no reason, no cause, to be afraid because you are a strong lad and you are a brave one. You fought two starving, desperate wolfos and there is no man that I know who could have done that at your age... let alone live through it." A breath. "And this _shame_? " Thomas spat the word like a curse. "Lord Lincoln Hudson, you should never feel shame-"

"But-"

"There are none." Thomas said, forcefully. "You feel this way because you are afraid, yes?" Link nodded. "You are only eight, Little Link! Do you know what I was afraid of at eight?" Thomas' demeanor had gradually softened as he smiled. "_I_ was afraid the dark. My mother had to stay with me until I was asleep so that the candle that had to stay lit wouldn't burn down White Tower!"

Link grinned at this and both Navi and Thomas was glad for it.

"See, now, Little Brother?" Thomas pulled the boy down and embraced him. "Do not be afraid, Lincoln, but do not be ashamed if you are." The two squeezed each other hard and, after a moment, the Knight helped the Lordling back up onto Spirit. "I am so proud of you. We are all so proud of you. So, come, Brother, let us beat this fear of yours. We will ride back to White Tower with the wind at our backs, yes?"

Link grasped his brother's hand and beamed. "Yes."

Thomas disappeared around the bend to retrieve his own horse and during that time Navi glanced at the boy. "What exactly are you afraid of?"

Link turned to her feeling better than before but he knew she could see that Thomas' words had not fixed all his problems. His cobalt eyes flickered to Navi's face before he took a shaky breath and mumured. "Death... I... I could feel it, Navi... I could feel it clawing at me before I passed out. I-I never felt so helpless... so weak."

Navi wished she was bigger for the first time in her life so that she could embrace her friend. "Link, we'll never let that happen to you. Your family and I will protect you without our own lives."

The boy shifted. "I know... but-"

Thomas returned and cut the boy's sentence off with a call. "Ready, Brother?"

"Yes!" Link beamed, ignoring his Faerie's inquiring look and the feeling that the previous thought gave him. He knew his family would protect him and give their lives if it came down to it... but something inside of him was sending out a warning... it churned and brewed inside... Link knew something dangerous was stirring in the depths of his heart but he couldn't pin point it.

Not yet.

Several minutes passed in amiable silence while the Brother and Navi made their way through the trail at an easy gallop before Link charged forward at a blinding speed. Thomas, catching wind of his brother's idea, raced after the boy with a devil's grin.

"You and that old thing cannot beat me!" Thomas laughed as his horse, Ostar "Ozzie", danced around Spirit with ease.

Link pulled up on his reins, causing Spirit to rear, and held steady as the horse's hooves slammed into the earth as he watched his brother disappear from view behind the trunk of a large tree. "Navi... before Thomas cut in... I-" He stopped, clicked his reins, and situated his thoughts as Navi followed behind, waiting patiently for him to continue. "I wanted to ask if... I really don't know how to word this without sounding crazy."

"You're already crazy." Navi poked her friend's cheek and twirled around him. "Spit it out."

"Have you ever..." Link sighed, dropping his face into his hand and running said hand through his hair. "F-Felt like the world was... wrong?"

Navi stopped and gave him a bewilderlook. "Uh, what?"

"I meant," He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Just...when I was dying... I... felt something."

Navi gave him the same look and raised her hands up. "I don't understand."

Link frowned, again, and huffed, the breath from it sending his bangs everywhere. "Gods! Okay, what I am trying to say is that when I was...dying... I could feel something." He unconciously touched his heart. "It was calling to me, sort of, and warning me about something... I can't explain it. It..." His face contorted into one of frustration and he threw his arms up. "Nevermind."

"Maybe you should talk to your Father about this."

Link laughed. "And have him think I'm crazy?"

Navi rose a brow. "You are."

"Still, hearing voices is not normal." Lincoln shifted, plucked at a loose string on his tunic. "Even if one is dying... maybe the Deku Tree will talk to me about it."

"Why the Great Deku Tree and not Lord Raven?"

Link plucked Navi out of the air, gently, and placed her on his shoulder. "The Great Deku Tree has been around for hundreds of years... I've heard he has even know a few Heroes... so, he might know something about this where my Father might just go ahead and send me off to the Temple of Time like everyone else does with their Fourth Sons." Navi had no time to reply to that statement for Link had dug his heels into Spirit and set them off at a frenzied gallop.

- A short time later -

"Brother, wait."

Link and Thomas had led their steeds into the stables with little attention drawn across the yard though the lad was sure his mother would appear any minute to embrace or kill him for worrying her. The eight year old turned to the twenty-eight year old knight and stopped unbuckling Spirit's saddle. "Yes, Tom, what is it?" Navi glanced from the Knight to her friend but didn't stop brushing through the horse's coat.

"Anju wrote me a letter a week ago and informed me of Rowan's little... outburst and its cause." Thomas shut the Ozzie's stall and thanked a Hand as he went behind him to wash the steed. "She mentioned something about the Gerudo King... have you heard anything about it?"

Lincoln frowned and shook his head. "Jason and Father do not allow me knowledge of such things... but what I have heard hasn't been comforting." A stable Hand slipped around the Lordling and tells the boy that he will tend to Spirit for Evangaline awaits him.

Thomas walked side by side with his brother with a similar frown on his own face. They leave the stable behind them and journey toward the open door into the Grand Hall of White Tower. "And what has that been?"

"It is rumoured he has aquired dark magick."

"Rumored or is that what you heard?" Thomas smirked, knowing the youth had a penchant for eaves dropping or dragging the information out of Adele during his sword lessons with her.

Link blushed. "Heard."

"And what has Father said about this?"

The boy shrugged and felt his stomache tie up into knots at his brother's continued interest. "He, Rowan, and Jason had a lengthy talk about if they should mention this to King Edric but I never recieved word on the final say."

"Ah." The Knight sighed and scratched at the stubble growing on his chin. "Well, I thank you for the information... I am going to go strip this armor. I shall see you later, Little Link!"

Lincoln stopped and watched his brother descend down the hall toward his quarters but knew his mother was waiting so he did not stay long. The eight year old turned to Navi with a pensive expression. "Why do you think-"

"I don't know and nor do I think we need to dwell on it." Navi replied with worried lines traced on her Fae features. "Come on, let's go find your mother."


	8. Chapter 8

Link gripped his weapon in his left hand and swung in wide arched circles, trying to get a feel for its weight. He tossed it between his two hands and spun, stepping from his right to his left in a fluid motion, with a strong stab at the open air. The sound of the blade slicing whistled out over the training grounds situated inside the very walls of White Tower. The eight year old closed his eyes and lost himself in his practices. The sword cut horizontal, vertical, from the ground to the sky, diagonal left, and diagonal right with a precise method in his young limbs.

Myra smirked as she watched her young brother and could not help the pride that swelled within her. The whole family had raised Lincoln from the very day he was born. Myra had been the midwife and was the first to hold him when he slithered from his mother's womb. The thirty-eight year old counted the attacks as Link did beneath his breath and could see their father in his movements.

"Spying on our young one, Love?" Henrick nestled his chin on Myra's shoulder with ease for he stood several inches taller than her. His long arms wrapped themselves about her waist and interlocked his fingers with hers. "He has made great progress since I last saw him play."

"He's not playing, now." Myra said, resting her weight against her husband. Public affection was rarely displayed for both despised prying eyes and others who did such things but sometimes neither could help it. The couple had been together for twenty-five years, having eloped at thirteen, and their love had not wanned, it had grown. Myra knew he could read every line on her body and she could do the same with his. She loved that intimacy but hated throwing it in others' faces... especially when around her sister, Anju.

"He never actually played, Love." Henrick sighed, squeezed, and then released her. He stepped around to stand at her side and smiled when Myra interlocked their hands. "I think we forget the pressure we put on him."

"Pressure?" Myra raises a red brow and fixes her jade eyes on her husband's form. "What do you mean?"

"He is eight years old, a child, in a home full of greying Men." Henrick's grey eyes shined with wisdom and he twisted his beard around his finger as he thought. A habit that Myra hated. "We may not know it but we often forget our Little Link is but a boy... he understands a lot of what we say about the Treaty. That is if we will actually ta-"

Myra's face flared from serene to angry in an instant. "Henry, I do not want to talk about this Treaty anymore!"

"We must, Dearest."

"No. We don't." Myra picked up her plum skirts and strode away from Lincoln who had stopped to gaze at his family curiously. "I am finished with it!"

Henrick followed close behind her with his face drawn tight in exhaustion. "It needs to be discussed. You and I must talk about it!" He raised his voice and Myra turned, both surprised by it. He cleared his throat and tugged at his black velvet doublet. "Vicktor is of age to be plucked up by the King if needed and so is Bryan though I doubt they will need a scholar."

"He will not have him." Myra vowed in a harsh whisper. "He is _my son_ and that fool will _not have him_."

"We must-"

"_No_!" The Lady of Oakhale raged, flying forward and jerking her husband toward her with tears suddenly streaming from her jade eyes. "I will not lose my babies! I will die before I let them fight!" Her fingers cut into her palm even through the material and it took a moment before Henrick could untangle them. "Please, I am tired of talking about 'what ifs', Henry... let me rest. It has been none stop since Rowan-" She stopped herself and continued instead with: "I just want a day where I can smile and not have to worry about losing a family member."

Henrick nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You will have it, my Love."

Lincoln latched his belt about his waist and tugged at the bottom of his tunic so that it did not bunch up around it. He frowned at himself in the mirror. "I look stupid in this color."

"You look like a Kokiri." Navi giggled and spun around in her new, glittering, pink dress which made her feel like a Princess.

Link's tunic was made of cotton and dyed a rich evergreen. His belt was brown and painted with golden leaves, his leather boots were new and hurt his feet to walk in though he did not complain, and he wore the hat that Saria had sent to him to commemorate his fully recovery. "Kind of." He had bathed and changed since his ride with Thomas and his daily practice session but something still felt unclean. He hated not being able to pin point it... but what he hated more was not knowing what was going on.

"We're kind of early... you want to go visit Brienne's Tower?" Navi asked, holding the corners of her dress and dancing around on the surface of an ornate hand mirror she had been given to ready herself in.

Lincoln shrugged, tossing a dagger up into the air and catching it by the handle. "If you want to."

"You don't want too?" She stopped twirling and glanced at her partner with a light frown.

He shrugged, again, and wriggled his toes in his boots with a grimace at how tight they were. "I'm not really in the mood."

"You're still weirded out about that whole fiasco with Henrick and Myra, aren't you?" Navi leapt into the air and glided over to him where she fluttered about his head.

The constant motion made Lincoln dizzy and it grated on his already agitated nerves. "Navi." His voice came out, angrily, and he bit his lip. "Sorry... I just hate this. I hate how everyone treats me like a child."

"You're eight." Navi countered, raising a brow and tapping her foot in mid-air. "And it's about time you start acting it." Her hand shot out and Link's eyes centered on it in wonderment as a small flame danced from her palm. "I'll race you to the Dining Hall!" A blue trail followed her as she zipped from the room and around the doorframe leaving Link little choice but to chase after her with a wild grin.

They arrived with a clatter into the Dining Hall and was greeted with the warmth of a raging fire.

Navi landed on the table and stuck her tongue out. "I win."

"You used magick." The Lordling placed two fingers down onto the table and walked them up toward the Fae with a smirk. He cleared his voice and said in mock-regality. "May I have this dance, Milady?"

"Yes, you may." Navi giggled, doing the same. She placed one hand on the top of his thumb and wrapped the other about the fingers. They proceeded to waltz down the recently polished table with stupid grins. "Where shall we sit?"

"Where we always sit." Link smirked, watching her with adoration in his eyes. The two journeyed close to the head of the table and sat in the second seat to the right. "Do you know what is planned for tonight?"

"Spice cake."

Link laughed and the sound echoed through the room. "I'm glad you knew what I was talking about."

Navi grinned and sat cross legged in the middle of his plate while the two conversed about random things though it was mostly about their favorite foods.

Evangaline appeared, shortly, with her husband in tow and both were dressed in fine outfits that the Lady had sewn herself. The green dress hugged Evie's curves tastefully and her long, blonde locks were fashioned into a elegant braid which draped over her graceful shoulders. Raven appeared strong in an outfit similar to Link's though his boots were black and he had a cape of a jungle green pinned around his shoulders with a brooch of a howling wolf.

"Hello, Father! Hello, Mother!" Lincoln beamed at his parents and raced to embrace them. "I heard that you almost fought a man today!"

Raven chuckled and tugged at his son's hat, playfully. "A curious hat, a gift from Saria, no doubt?"

"Father!" Lincoln's curiousity could not be evaded and his smile was infectious. "Did you or did you not?"

"Now, now, my boy, you have been eaves dropping again!" The Lord took his child's hand and guided his family toward the table with a wink in Navi's direction. "And yes, I did... almost."

"And why?"

Evangeline rolled her light blue eyes and slipped the hat from her son's blonde head. "No hats at the table before the Blessing and quit pestering your Father, sweetling, it has been a long day." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I have heard we will be treated to spice cake."

"Did someone say spice cake?" Thomas voice questioned, gleefully, as he marched into the room wearing a white tunic, tan breeches, and a simple red braided belt tied about his waist. "Someone must love me in there! Which cook do I kiss?"

"None, they probably made it for Link... with him almost dying and all." Navi smirked, watching the Knight take a seat next to the youngest Hudson.

Thomas scowled but replied, good naturedly. "Is death what it takes to have a cake baked in my honor?" He swatted at the Fae with a humorous grin. "Go now, Faerie, and send for _my _cake while I pester my little brother."

"I am no servant!" The remark had offended the tiny blue girl and all saw her colors change to a venomous yellow.

Raven plucked Navi out of the air and sat her before him, gently. "A jest, Little One. Thomas is our beloved fool."

"Oy!" Thomas dropped the goblet he had been drinking from and threw a finger at his father. "That is Sir Fool!" Both men roared out into laughter and awaited the rest of the family in joyous, talkative companionship.

Vicktor and Darion arrived, the latter with scorch marks across his face, and were flanked by Henrick and Myra. Myra's hair had been let down so that it swept her shoulders and framed her face but other than that she appeared unchanged since her argument with Henrick. Her husband was silent and did not meet his father-in-laws eyes which let all know that the couple was still at an impass.

Vicktor crashed into his Uncle Thomas and both squeezed each other tight. "Good to see you, Uncle! We barely got to talk last time! Will you be staying longer?"

"I will be staying for the remainder of the month." A sly grin in which he cast his brown eyes over the faces of Lincoln and the eighteen year old warrior. "Plenty of time to train you lads up!"

"I'll get my potions ready." Darion smirked, plopping into a chair close to the middle. The Healer was dressed in dark red robes that smelled of odd herbs and powders which he spent most of his time mixing to his mother's displeasure. The eighteen year old glanced down at his attire and wiped at the burn marks but knew they would not rub out.

"Have another accident, Darion?"

He blushed at his grandfather and averted his green-black eyes. "Yes... I've almost perfected my new concoction... if only the, uh, chemicals would comply."

Raven smirked. "You should consult the old man at Lake Hylia. The Doctor is well known, if I am unmistaken, to be a wizard of your arts."

"He is but-"

"_But_," Jason's voice cut in and the rotund man approached the table where he took his own seat across from Lincoln... who he still gripped at because the youngest was not supposed to sit so close though Jason had learned better since an odd fiasco concerning Evangeline and a turkey leg. "that is a long trip for such a young man who is not skilled with a blade."

"I am fine with a bow." Darion countered with a pointed glare.

Janette, who had followed her husband, tucked her dirty blonde hair behind her pointed ears fit with golden hoops and cast her hazel eyes to the face of her son with a look verging on feral. "You, my darling boy, are not a capable rider for long travel, you can barely contend with your young Uncle at sword play, and this Treaty-"

"He is far better than you give him credit for!" Vicktor's voice burst through Janette's rant. "And it seems to me that all of you are standing on hot coals... I would hold your tongue, Aunt, before you say something more vile."

"Quiet yourself, boy." Jason growled.

Myra's jade eyes flashed, dangeorusly. "Watch your tone, Brother."

"Children!" Raven called out and his grey-blue eyes quelled the fighting with a single look. "My old heart cannot stand this fighting anymore! Let our words flow but let them be gentle and wise not viscious and heated." He folded his hands together and rested them on the table. "Is this what our family has come to? A bunch of squabbling savages without reason or care?"

A long pause stretched out and all felt its effect.

Myra searched out Henrick's hand and when she found it, she squeezed it. Henrick smiled and knew all would be alright while Darion clapped Vicktor on the back. "Thank you, Cousin."

Janette met her child's gaze and shame creeped up on her. "I should not have s-"

"It is forgiven." Darion smiled, lightly, and the tension eased.

"The Goddesses be praised." Raven sighed. "Now..." The old Lord drank deep from his goblet and let the wine ease the tension in his joints. "Jason, Son, Brother, Friend... Pray tell... Where is the rest of us? I am missing four and I will not eat without them. We have things to discuss and I mean to discuss them."

Jason stood up straight and looked rather regal in a deep navy blue schemed outfit complete with undershirt, light silver mail, tunic, an unbuttoned doublet, breeches, black leather fitted boots, and a short sword about his waist. "Bryan and Freya are... had made wishes that we wait for them a few moments. No doubt, he wishes to ask her hand... Anju and Rowan-"

"Here!" Rowan called out and both men suddenly made such ridiclous faces at being dressed nearly identical that Lincoln burst out laughing along with Vicktor and Darion.

"We are triplets, now, eh, Brother?" Anju giggled, gliding gracefully along to kiss Lincoln on the cheek. Her beauty shone in a pink gown with lace overtop that hugged her waist and flowed past her hips to brush the ground. Her red hair was pulled up into a loose bun while her bangs framed her face. "How are you today, Little Brother?"

Jason puffed up with embaressment. "Hmph. Triplets? I dare say not!"

"Exactly." Rowan murmured as both twins took a seat next to Janette and Jason. "And Thomas," The mentioned Knight closed the mouth he had opened. "you will not say anything about this."

"Can't make a joke, can't get a cake... Why, sweet Din, must you hate me?" The twenty-eight year old chuckled. The Knight then turned to the lad and gave the boy, who had slipped his hat back onto his head, a crooked smile. "So, Litle Link, what is this I hear about your en-"

"Vicktor," Evangeline cut into the Knight's question, smoothly, and gave the man a tart look. "Myra was telling me that you have decided _not _to become a Knight. Why?"

The eighteen year old blinked and it took an elbow from Darion before he stammered out the words. "Uh, t-that is... well, I have...um, Why do you ask, Evie?"

The Lady shrugged and gave Thomas another sharp look as if to ensure he would to continue whatever question he had wished to ask her son. "I was just curious. You are good with a blade and would do well as Raven, Rowan, and Thomas has done... I suppose I am a bit disappointed that you will not carry the tradition as well."

Vicktor replied to that softly. "I have just fallen out of love with the sword, I suppose." The young man blushed. "My Father has been kind enough to teach me some of his craft."

Raven snorted. "We have two Knights, one Healer, Jason is my Heir, a Scholar, and a wolfos slayer... I suppose we can add a politican to that lot."

"Is it really so bad?" Henrick asked with a slight offended tone in his voice.

Raven bowed his head slightly. "No, no. I did not mean it like that." He mets Henrick's gaze with a smile. "All men have their trade, Henrick, and no man should presume to one anothers expertise. I apologize if I seemed degrading. This old man has only known fatherhood and war."

"There is nothing to apologize for."

An akward pause ensued in which all could hear the clatter of two pairs of feet echoing down the hall outside. Lincoln and Navi smirk at one another. "3, 2, 1!"

Freya and Bryan burst in with stupid grins upon their faces. "We're engaged!"

Myra rolled her eyes and smirked. "Finally."

Thomas stood with an exaggerated expression of shock and his chair clattered to the floor. "By the Goddesses, what a surprise!"

"Sir Fool, sit down." Raven shook of his head though he could not hid his smile. "Congratulations."

Link suddenly grinned. "Guess, now, we know who the spice cake is for."

"Right you are, brother of mine!" Thomas beamed.

Darion raised a brow. "How much wine have you had, exactly, Uncle?"

"Don't ask me anything to do with numbers, Nephew, he's liable to hurt himself." Rowan grinned, tossing a grape back and crunching down onto it at which Janette made a face. "You two come sit so we can eat."

Jason nodded, furiously, at the request and unconciously grasped his stomach as if it might escape him. "Yes, please."


	9. Chapter 9

"Mother?"

Evangeline brushed the blonde locks of her beloved child's head through with her fingers and smiled, lovingly, down upon him. "Yes, Sweetling?"

"Everyone... is upset over the Treaty with the Gerudo... and..."

The Lady sighed, cupping Lincoln's cheek, and stopped messing with his locks. She leaned back into her seat and smoothed the folds of her dress. "You want to know why." He nodded and Evangeline felt something in her heart ache. "Oh, my darling boy... You are so young but I do believe you will understand this... and that you deserve to."

Navi bit her lip and sat cross legged on her charge's chest. She had changed from her dress that she wore during dinner and was in another hand sewn gown though this was a soft silk for sleeping. "We've heard, and know, that much of it is because of everyone being afraid for the older boys' safety but..." She blushed. "It must be more than that. War, or so the Great Deku Tree tells us, is commonplace in Hyrule."

"It is." Evie nodded. "And you are correct, our boys' safety is not our only concern though it is a great factor. If this Treaty does not pass or goes sour there is a risk that our men will be called to arms... Your Father, Thomas, Rowan, Vicktor, Darion, and even Bryan are either experienced warriors, trained at the blade, or of age to be drafted and this is a scary thought to all of us." She paused and took a shaky breath. "And we must also think of the other families who are under our banners for they have sons, husbands, and brothers too... War is a vile thing, my Lincoln, and I do not wish for you to know of it."

"But all of that is 'ifs' and I have yet to hear any reason other than 'they are Gerudo and traitors' that gives anyone claim to be frightened." Link sat up from his pillows and took his mother's hands. "Tell me. Tell me because I _need to know_."

Evangeline felt her heart drop as she gazed into the coblat eyes of her son. She saw something inside of him... something that frightened her but it made her feel more safe than she had ever in her life. It struck her as she peered at that young eight year old's face... she had never seen such courage before. "Thomas... Thomas told me that you had eaves dropped on a conversation that your father had with Rowan."

Link nodded. "I did." He paused. "I had been training my archery teacher."

"Adele the Shiekah."

"Yes." Lincoln bunched his covers into his hands and felt that familar but peculiar feelings rising in his heart. He hated it. "I saw her give Rowan some odd nod like a secret message and when Rowan asked to speak to Father alone, because Jason goes with them everywhere, I decided to follow them." The eight year old released the quilts, relaxing, as Navi sat on his shoulder and brushed his hair back. "I told Adele what I was doing because she would catch me anyway and she said that I would owe her a favor for not saying anything about it... I watched the door shut behind Rowan and snuck through the Servant's Way. I know no one ever uses them so I would be safe to listen there."

"And what did you hear?" She closed her light blue eyes, ignoring that motherly instinct to scold him for his wrong doings, and listened with fear beating in her heart.

"We heard them mention something about dark magick." Navi spoke up when Lincoln seemed to lose his words. "Rowan said that he thought this King of Thieves, Ganondorf, might be controling the Gerudo but what we don't understand is how this directly effects everyone. Why is that a problem?" The Faerie stood and paced from Link's neck to the end of his shoulder. "I mean, the Fae do not allow such things because it is cruel to take away such rights as freedom but... the Gerudo are feral, aren't they?"

"Freedom is freedom." Evie replied, softly, with emotion clinging to every word. "The Gerudo are a dangerous force and, yes, they have been known to be 'feral' as you put it... but if someone, a single person, can control that many people... Can you imagine, my Little Ones, the damage that would be done if that man could gain access to the King of Hyrule? That _power_ is _forbidden_ to all of the Goddesses' Creations and if Ganondorf has truly dared to go against Their Laws than this is not a man whom Hyrule should share alligience or at least allow go near our King or Princess."

Her words hung in the air and all three could find no more words to say. Lincoln and Navi now understood... and the young Lordling could now put a name to that feeling stirring in his heart.

Fear.

The son and mother wished each other a long and good night of rest which left the Fae and Hylian by themselves to their own thoughts.

"We have to talk to the Deku Tree."

Navi frowned. "You're only upset because of what is going on amoungst the adults. You're reflecting what you thought you heard on the threshold of death to what is taking place, now." She rested in his outstretched hands and both could feel the unease radiating off the other. Navi was playing at naivety but she was just as worried at her partner. "Please, a night's rest will do you some good. Go to sleep, Link."

But Lincoln would not let the subject rest.

He made every attempt that he could to see the Deku Tree though he never listed his true purpose and instead proclaimed that he missed the Kokiri but all of this was to no end. The family departed all to their seperate homes after a while except for Raven and Jason's brood... the Treaty was being prepared... and Hudsons needed to be ready.

For Hyrule's sake.

- Two years pass -

"Bless the Gods, I have a_ Grandaughter!_"

Lincoln jerked awake from where he had been sitting at his study table writing a letter. He required a new horse for Spirit had finally given himself into old age. The mount would be retired and taken to Talon's Lon Lon Ranch where he would rest in green pastures until his dying day. Link would also retrieve a new horse from the famous Ranch.

He looked down at his paper with some disconcertment and rubbed the ink that had left a large stain on his hand. "Was that Myra?"

Navi nodded her head, sleepily, and yawned from where she lay on Link's Korkiri hat. "Freya and Bryan have a daughter." She sniggered while she stretched herself out before a lit candle that flickered a little too closely to her wings, making her flinch. "Looks like you're a _great_ Uncle, now."

The ten year old smiled, slipped from his chair, and popped his back which still gave him ocassional trouble during especially cold or rainy nights. His cobalt blue eyes peered out the stained glass window of White Tower's Library and found the moon. "It is late...almost midnight." Link smirked. "She is a child of Nayru..."

"Who?" Navi asked but her thoughts caught up with her and she nodded in agreement. "So she is." The Faerie heard Myra, now forty, let out another joyful outburst about the birth of her first grandchild. "Oh... I wish she would stop all that rachet...Gods know we've heard enough."

Freya's delivery had been an eight hour long process that would have left the frail dark blonde, comely lass exhausted. She was the first at twenty-three to give Lord Raven a great-grandchild... a matter that Myra would rub into Jason's face for years to come.

"You can stay here and sleep then. You need all the beauty sleep you can get." The Faerie shot him a nasty look which the ten year old returned and Link pondered on taking his hat from his partner but decided not to once he heard his mother calling his name. He slipped from the door, straightened his pale green doublet out that had his family's Howling Wolf embroidered in gold and tied his shoulder length hair back. "Mother!"

Lady Evangeline beamed at her son and walked over swiftly to greet him. "Have you heard, sweet one?"

Lincoln smirked. "All of White Tower has heard."

"Well, come now!" Evangeline smiled with joy in her voice and ignoring the sarcasm in her son's own. "Let us go and see Bryan's blessing." She pulled up her crimson skirts and dashed away with all the energy that a woman of thirty-five years in heavy clothing could muster.

It was a known fact that Raven had taken Evie to the altar with reluctance for he had not wanted to marry again and he had only done so after Myra claimed him "a depressed old man who needs a woman's love". Anyone could see, now, that Lord Raven smiled more often than he had in his ten years of loneliness before Lady Evangeline... though he would not be one to admit that Myra was right.

All were grateful for the Lady's presence these last trialing months for the Hudsons did have their anger problems and Evangeline did not tolerate her husband's for any moment.

She had been the one to ease him when Bryan and Freya got pregnant before their wedding. Myra had been another factor for she helped quicken the ceremony along... the child was ushered into the world, to everyone's joy, eight months after the union of her parents. A scandal hidden away to lessen the tension admist the rumor of war.

Bryan met them at the door with the face of a worried husband and a proud father. "Uncle." He embraced the boy who was sixteen years his junior. "Evie." A kiss was placed on Evanegline's cheek. "She is beautiful, you really have no idea."

This was to be the first of his kin that Lincoln would see born with a heartbeat. Three years past, his own mother had weeped in a bed soaked with blood from her own loins while she cradled his dead sister, and two years previous his sister, Anju, also lost a daughter. Both events came back every once and a while to haunt the young Lord. Recently, it had been revealed that Anju's reason for her long visit to White Tower had been due to Kafei not wanting to try for anymore children...

Still, this was a joyous occasion for all of White Towe for it had been craving the sound of a new babe's cries.

Myra stood at the bedside, beaming, and gazed down at the squirming bundle of blankets in her hands. "Freya is asleep."

"Of course, she is." Evangeline nodded with her blue eyes threatening to weep. The Lady turned and took the hand of the mid-wife. "Thank you, Hally, for your services. You go on and rest, now."

Hally bowed. "Thank _you_, My Lady. If you should need me then ring a bell. I will come." The woman swept from the room, silently, and looked as if she may pass out herself.

"What's her name?" Lincoln pondered, eyeing the infant with interest though he had a fear of actually holding a baby.

"Christa." Bryan took his daughter from his mother's arms and pressed a tender kiss upon her brow. The twenty-six year old chuckled at himself as the baby took a breath in to release a mighty wail. "I feel more weepy than a willow."

"That is called a father's love, my dear Bryan... May I hold her?"

"Of course, Evie."

Evangeline smiled at the newborn who released another a healthy cry and squeezed her tiny pink fists into white knuckled balls that shook with great fervor. "Tell us all about it, sweetling." She cooed, rocking the child gently. "Has she fed?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

"Good, good." A pause. "I wish Raven and Jason were her to meet her."

Myra leaned over Evie's shoulders and gazed upon her grandchild. "Jason has never enjoyed small children and Father shall get to see her in a week... After all, his buisness his just as important as our little Christa."

Link frowned when six sets of eyes drifted to him. "What buisness? I thought Father was just going to settle a trade dispute."

Evangeline gapped and he could see her fumbling to cover what ever secret they had been hiding from him. "Disputes amoung the People are important, my Lincoln." She settled with and gave him a small smile that was broken when Christa gave a mighty cry. "Oh, come now, Little One. Shhhh."

The babe continued to whimper without stop and was passed to Bryan to Myra, back to Evangline then to Myra, and Bryan again but all attempts at calming the infant was to no avail. "She has her Father's mouth, I see!" Evangeline laughed, sighed, and rocked the baby then, when she tired, she gave the girl to her father. "Perhaps we might leave the room?"

"Yes, let Freya rest... Uh, here help me gather some supplies."

It was an odd moment for all when Bryan handed Christa to Lincoln who had dodged the offer to hold his great niece several times. Lincoln seated himself in a chair, feeling more comfortable holding Christa that way, and after a moment of great akwardness began to hum a soft melody beneath his breath... and to everyone's surprise, the newborn fell asleep.

Myra smirked. "Well, well, well, Little Link, looks like you have the makings of a great father."

Bryan ruffled his hair and chuckled. "Thank you, Uncle."

"Now, if only you had been around when Vicktor was born! Then I would have been impressed." Myra appeared very tired at the mention of her youngest son who suffered from colic, often, as a newborn. "I hope Christa does not take after her Uncle."

"She is just new to the world and afraid...we all were, once." Evangeline turned to Myra and placed a hand upon her shoulder. "I can watch over Freya and the babe tonight... you and Bryan get some rest." The new father opened his mouth to protest but was silenced by his young grandmother. "Now, now, Bryan. You will be of no use to Freya and Christa if you do not sleep." The Lady winked at Myra. "Your mother and I can testify to that fact, can we not?"

"As sure as I know Farore is green, I can!" The redheaded daughter of Joanna, first wife of Raven, laughed and her jade eyes danced with mirth. Eyes of her mother, Joanna Pembrose, whom she shared with Jason, Rowan, and Anju. They all had Joanna's look though only Jason shared her plumpness, the rest took after the slim sixty year old Lord of White Tower. "As always, Evie, you are right!" Myra laughed, again, and shook her hair from the bun it was in.

"Lincoln?"

The boy looked up at his older Nephew and shifted Christa a bit so that she did not rest so heavily on his left arm for it had grown tired "Yes, Bryan?"

"What was that tune you were humming?"

Link frowned. "I...I have no idea..." He found himself confused. "I heard it in a dream..."

Myra smirked. "I wish I had dreams like that then maybe I could hum something to shut Henrick up when he goes on those rants of his... and Gods, if you mention his family...damn Waterworths."

"But, Mother, _you are _a Waterworth."

Myra laughed and patted her son on the shoulder. "I am a _Hudson_ and so are you and so is your brother." She laughed, again, and shut the door behind her. "_Your Father_ is a Waterworth." The mother and son departed from the room and after a few moments as did Lincoln. He had handed Christa to his mother, gladly, and made his way through the dimly lit halls to his room.

He paused at his door and frowned. "Navi." A short trip back to the Library and the two returned feeling much more tired than before. "Next time, I'm going to leave you." Link mumured, jerking his covers overtop himself.

"I'd sleep better." The Fae replied, sticking her tongue out. "You snore too much."

"No, I don't."

"Do too."

"Don't."

"Too."

"Shut up."

"Too." Navi smirked. "Good night!" Her voice rang out in mock song and soon the Fae had fallen asleep... to the boy's amustment, her snores filled the room up not long after.

"Don't." The boy rolled his eyes and lifted his pillow to protect his pointed ears from the offending noises of his partner. Sleep took him, quickly, but the boy felt little gratitude for a dark and vivid dream emerged... one born from the stress born from the impending Treaty and the odd stirrings in the child's gut.

_A great expanse of green waves rolled and tumbled before him drenched in darkness provided by a thundering storm blocking the sunlight. Link felt compelled to move and soon he found himself charging towards the gates of a large drawbridge... chains screeched and sparked as the bridge dropped open and splintered. A woman on a steed lept the moat beneath her, soaring over Lincoln's head as well, and kept the horse going at break neck speed. _

_"Go!" She screamed at it, digging her heels in and clutching at a girl. "Run, you stupid beast, run!"_

_The violet eyes of the child met Lincoln's own and her lips moved but he could not hear her words for the winds had picked up and had begun to beat his face. He raised a hand to implore them to stop, to let him help, but he could not speak. A whistle caught his pointed ears and his sharp eyes saw a blue blur splash into the waters next to the bridge. Link felt his heart sink with it. The feeling of terror washed over his body and settled deep into his core... but that girl, something was important about her... He turned to see what direction she had ridden to._

_She was gone!_

_The realization dawned on him as a shadow crept over his form. Cobalt met fiery eyes of red and a deep voice boomed."Where did she go, boy?"_

_Link felt his fists clench hard, his nails biting into the flesh of his palm, and he growled. "Burn in Hell."_

_The man laughed, draped in darkness and saturated by Evil, and sneered. "I have no time for this." He frowned. "Where is the girl?" The sky bellowed and lightening screeched across the sky. _

_Lincoln dug his heels into the ground, grabbed the sword holstered in his belt, and lept toward the man's throat...Shearing pain scorched over his skin, his eyes were filled with purple light, and a burning filled his lungs. _

_He could not breathe!_

Link woke up to the sound of someone screaming and the feeling of nails digging at his throat... little did he realize that his voice was the one filling up his room and that his own fingers had left bloody trails down the soft skin of his neck.


	10. Chapter 10

Bandages were applied to the cuts on the boy's neck and after a few weeks of healing Link was allowed to attend the journey being made to honor the Great Deku Tree for his gifts given long ago... the lush forests of White Tower. The Hudsons had done this service since the castle was built and reforged their pledge to protect the Kokiri Children with their lives.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Evangeline frowned, crossing her arms over her chest with eyes searching for any sign of reluctance in her son. "You did not sleep enough last night and I am sure Darion could use your hel-"

"He will be fine, Evie." Jason's voice cut into the Mother's tirade with a firm but understanding tone. "It would do him good to speak with the Great Deku Tree about this strange dream..." A careful glare at his littlest brother. "As he refuses to speak with his family about it."

Evangeline's frown deepened as she bid her family good-bye. "Stay away from the Woods, Love!"

"Of course!" Link called back and lead Spirit into a gallop as the other steeds about him did so. When they slowed down to a trot, the boy sighed and patted the handle of his sword hanging at his side.

"You should listen to your Mother, Little Link."

The boy glanced at his Father. "I need to investigate those doors... and... see where _it_ happened." At the mention of his encounter with the wolfos, Lincoln could feel the scars on his back tug.

"No, what you need is to talk about this silly dream that scared us all so much." Jason spoke with a harshness to his voice. It was no secret that the eldest of Raven's boys had a severe distaste about not telling one's family what was wrong... especially when it came to the mind. The Heir of White Tower had discovered his grandfather's dead corpse after Lord Pembrose had allowed depression to defeat him.

It, unsurprisingly, left a deep impact on Lord Jason.

"It is a private matter." Link frowned and swatted at Navi who was buzzing, aimlessly, about his head without meaning to annoy her partner.

"You tried to kill yourself." Jason countered. "Over a dream."

"I didn't try to kill myself!"

"What are those marks?" A meaty finger was thrust at the scars about the ten year old's throat but a gloved one smacked it away.

His children staring at him, Raven spoke. "Now, now. Calm yourselves, boys." His voice was stern but not steely. "Jason, your brother is _fine_. Troubled but _fine_ and if he feels the need to keep a secret from us than he is entitled. Dreams are a private matter, indeed, and even _I_ would feel uncomfotable sharing them." A small smile worked its way onto the aging Lord's face. "Lincoln."

The boy met his Father's eyes. "Yes?"

"You may speak to the Great Deku Tree when we are finished giving our gifts but until go play with Saria but be careful." Raven laughed, suddenly. "But, first let us try to get there on time, eh?"

Many hours passed but they arrived before lunch time and soon the Kokiri greeted the Hudsons. Link, as ordered by his Father, went off to find Saria though Jason had a sneaking suspecion his brother and Navi would eventually end up in the Lost Woods. The Heir of White Tower did not have long to think upon Lincoln for soon he was thrust into the oldest job known to Man: manual labor.

"Lord Raven, old friend, I have heard news that you have a new daughter amoungst your family."

The sixty year old, nodded, with a slight smile on his face. "Yes, born to my grandson Bryan and his wife, Freya. They have named her Christa." Raven glanced at the ancient and seemingly hollow face of the Great Deku Tree with a look of concern. "And are you well? You look a little paler than I last remember."

Happiness exuded from the tree but a falseness came with it."Paler, my Lord? Your old eyes are sharp but do not fret for me, Lord of White Tower. All is well." A pause in which both seemed to understand this statment to be a blatant lie. "Today is the day of honoring my gift to you if I can recall. What have you brought with you this year?"

The man nodded and reached within a sack that Jason had lain at his feet. "There are saplings of apple trees from our orchards for the Kokiri to plant, vegtables of various kinds along with them, and...this."

The wind reacted to the gift with a uplifting breeze coursing through the grove that washed away the anticipation and left calm surprise. A seed larger than the size of Raven's head was held in leather gloved hands and the older man could not help a smile.

"A Great Deku Seed!" The branches of the ancient entity trembled with great emotion. "How did you obtain a child of my race? We do not give birth often and it has been come appallingly more apparent that I may be the last of my kind..."

Raven shifted as the tremors of sadness slithered from the roots of the Deku Tree. "I give you this, then, dearest friend. Here is an heir for you."

There was a deep, depression emotion to the Tree's voice and it seemed to suck the colors out of the grove itself. "Raven..." The spirit mumured into the air and all the life drained from the old man's face.

The Lord looked up with his grey-blue eyes and felt a pang of dread hit his heart. "You are..."

"I am dying, Old Bird." The world seemed to stop as the words spilt and echoed in the air.

For a long time, Raven stared at the face he had known since he was a boy of five and felt like he would weep. The Lord had spent his childhood in times of war and blood and loss but; when his Father brought him here to pay respects to the Great Deku Tree to thank him for the reasons Raven was there; he found freedom in the Kokiri Village. He would race along the dirt track, chasing the Triplets whom he still shared a strong bond with, much like his youngest son, and he would listen to the Deku Tree's tales with wonderment... to think that his oldest friend would perish made the world turn blurry under a curtain of tears. "You..." Raven felt himself choke up. "You cannot _die_."

The Great Deku Tree made an odd noise that Raven knew to be his laugh. "I have no choice in the matter..."

"Is there nothing I can do then?" The Lord of White Tower turned, desperatly, to see where Jason had gone off to and surmised that his heir was helping unload the carts. "My son, Jason, has a boy named Darion who is a very skilled Healer! He helped Lin-"

"A Healer will not help what ails me."

Helpless, a feeling that Raven had a particular hatred for after losing his first wife, Joanna, to birthing complications and his second wife, Brienne, to illness. "Then what will? There must be something!"

The wind blew across the grove and danced along the blades of grass but the soothing touch did nothing to quell the anguish Lord Raven was feeling.

"Listen, very carefully, my dearest Raven." The Deku Tree shuddered and a large groan echoed from the bark. It was in pain, Raven realized. "There is an evil inside of me...a parasite. It, it will kill me and my Children...my darling Children will be lost, afraid, and with no protection from this monster... kill this thing for me and I will rest in peace. Keep your oath, Raven, to keep them safe."

Raven nodded, solemnly, and murmured with determination. "I will." He unsheated his sword. "A monster parasite, you s-"

"_You _are an old man, Raven... you would be hurt and I will not have that." The Deku Tree swayed in the wind and his leaves, a dull red, came tumbling down to shower the ground. "I need someone with Coura-" Those hollow eyes seemed to grow wide and a gasp of horror, sucking all the oxygen from the grove, screeched from the Tree. _"My Children!"_

The Lord of White Tower's old Warrior heart beat fast as he whipped around on his heels and made a hard run through the passageway from the Grove...leading him straight into an unexpected Deku BaBa patch. The vile plants snapped their jaws at him and thrashed wildly as he tried to skirt past. Raven slammed his fist against the Babas as they lunged and slipped away unharmed...

Kokiri Forest opened before him and unleashed a picture of madness.

The Triplets were under siege by a cluster of Deku Scrubs that they were attempting to battle with rocks from their roof. Mido was hacking a Baba with a stick before it clamped down on it and snapped the makeshift weapon with ease. Fado was hurling Deku Nuts down on anything she could while she wept large tears and the Shopkeep was helping his brethren into his shop to the roof.

Jason was busy protecting some of the Children from a giant Stalchild and several of its smaller kind, one guard had been bitten by a Tektite and was being rescued by another of their guards, while the last one they had brought was shooting arrows at wolfos that was charging them.

"Get to your roofs, Children!" Raven ran forward, snatched the bitten guard's sword up, and stabbed the spider-like creature before it lunged upon the second of his men.

"Father!" Jason called, beheading one of his foe and raising his shield to defend against the claws of the giant he faced. "We cannot stay here long! The Deku Tree's protection has faltered!"

"I will come to you." The Lord knew what would happen in one hour and it was a grim thought during grim circumstances. The adults would become possessed, half-mad, with blood lust and either they would kill themselves, the Children, or they would turn into Iron Knuckles which did not help the Kokiri's chances. "We will stay as long as we ca-"

A large screech broke the noise of battle and stole the attention of the fighters good and vile alike... A creature of dark creation surged forth from the direction of the Grove. A large green eye rolled in a sea of yellow perched atop a body of scally magenta skin... pinchers thrust forward and snapped at a nearby Kokiri who dodged into her home to avoid it. The eye burned red and released its horrible screech. _"The STONE!_" It cried. _"The STONE!" _Eggs slithered out from the end of its scorpion like tail and hatched upon impact with the ground... unleashing more foe to contend with.

The babies propelled themselves forward on tiny feet and rammed straight into the archer who had just slain the wolfos. A snap meant his ribs were broken and the thought of it sickened Raven but he could not dwell on the man long... he decapitated three Stalchildren, the last of them, and watched Jason cut the giant one in half. He stabbed its skull without pause when it still came for his son. They ushered their group into a safe dwelling, and were forced to ignore the Deku Scrubs and other foes, to battle the new enemy.

Jason planted his feet to the ground and raised his sword but his green eyes widened as they turned to Raven. "Father... where is Lincoln?"

"I do not know!" Raven sliced the projectile shot at his face and smirked when it slammed into the Scrub that had shot it even if that had not been what he intended. "Saria and Navi will keep him safe."

Jason frowned and both men prepared to charge. "I am with you, Father." Together, swords raised, the two raced towards the monsterous creatures screaming about their mysterious stone. Jason felled one with a quick slice through the eye but was caught unawares by another vile baby. It slammed into his side and knocked him into the water.

Raven was upon the beast within moments and had hacked it into two. His hand reached in and gave a hard pull of Jason's breatplate. The two found each others' eyes. "Thank me later."

A scream roared through the air and both men turned to see the gigantic spider-parasite much closer than before. "Gods..."

_"The STONE!"_

A resounding crack slammed one of the hatchlings' eye, earning much attention, and the creature tumbled backwards before it disintergrated into the earth. The familiar voice of Raven's fourth son came from the direction of the Lost Woods. "You were right, Navi!"

Navi swirled down and floated above another of the creatures. "This one!" Before long, Link was beside the almost forgotten fallen archer and was dragging him toward outstreched Kokiri arms.

"Everyone!" The ten year old cried with the voice of a born leader. "Get inside or go for the eyes!"

The mother monster screamed at the boy as he raced toward her on nimble feet, past his father and brother who were shocked at his display. "_The STONE!"_ She swept her tail down, swiftly, leaving little time for the young hero to dodge. It crashed into his side, causing him to lose his slingshot, and tossed him, hard, into one of the houses. The abomination rose a pincher... _"Give Gohma the Stone!"_

_"LINK!_" The Kokiri cried along with his father and brother.

Jason lurched to his feet but the water had weighed him down, his father had to steady him, and both knew they were not fast enough to save the boy in peril... but a voice rang out.

"Hey you!" It was Saria. The green headed lass hurled a Deku Nut at the parasite and growled. "Stay away from my friend!"

Then Mido was by her. "Yeah! Stay away from Link!" Soon all of the Deku Tree's beloved Children were calling out and throwing what items they had at their disposal to the shock of all warriors present.

The monster seemed to faltar beneath the barrage of rocks, deku nuts, and the occasional shoe but found strength again. _"Give Gohma the Stone!" _Gohma, so she named herself, raged and thrashed, dropping eggs and stabbing her pinchers at the Kokiri... ignoring the boy who was starting to stand up...with a sword in hand.

Raven felt his heart seize with fear. "Son, do not attack! She will kill you!"

Lincoln ignored his father and allowed the strong surge of courage to take away his pain. "Gohma!"

That vile eye whipped around to face him and was met with a hard thrown boot. Gohma hit the ground and released an agonized cry of pain, attempting to open the wounded eyeball.

"The eye!" Navi screamed, her falsetto voice breaking through the noise. "Now, Link, kill her!"

Link made his move and kicked off the ground, slipping beneath a claw aimed for his head, stabbed an attacking monster mini, and sank the Kokiri Sword to the hilt into Gohma's eye with a battlecry.

Gohma lurched up, riping the sword from the boy's hands, and staggered back with blood spewing from her wound. She lurched forward, a groaning sound coming from her stiffening limbs, and made it clear what her final intention would be: squish the boy with her last breath.

But, Lincoln had his Sheikah teacher's training and he flipped backwards, left hand guiding him back, and hit the ground as Gohma burst into smoldering ash at his feet. His cobalt eyes regarded the burning remains with an odd look upon his face before he picked up his weapon and turned to a silent crowd.

Monster free, the Village was saved, and nothing but ashes remained.

"It- She took my boot." Link frowned right before a great cry of joy exploded from his friends and family.

Raven lifted his boy up and felt pride swell. "I am astounded by you." He winked at Navi. "Both of you..." He squeezed his child and then turned his eyes to the Great Deku Tree's Grove. "Come now... all of you." Raven led the march and felt his heart drop to his stomach at a sudden realization.

It was time to say good-bye.

Weakly, the voice of the Kokiri Forest spoke as the Children and White Tower's men filed in. "Link... you have defeated it." The Great Deku Tree appeared grey, all the vivid color washed out of him, and all could feel his pain. "Ahh, and, somehow, I knew... knew... that you would." A shuddering breath. "Always so brave..."

"I... just wished I could have helped more..." The boy stared up in shock at the wise, hollow, eyes and wiped away the single tear that strayed from his blue eyes. He had not known his friend was so sick... had not dared considered the rumors he heard all day. "Why did Gohma...do this?"

"A curse was lain upon her...by a man in black armor...with fire in his eyes." The Kokiri Children were crowded around their father-figure by then with their arms wrapped around his trunk and desperate pleas for him not to leave. Not to die. "My darling Children... I love you all... but I cannot help this."

Lincoln felt a lump catch in his throat and he turned away for a moment to hid his face in his father's cloak. Jason placed a hand upon his little brother's shoulder, squeezed it, lightly, and spoke in a solemn tone. "Do you know his name...and what the monster meant by 'the stone'?"

"No name..." The Deku Tree groaned, his ancient life was draining from him. "Stone ... is ... Kokiri ... Emerald." His eyes began to lose the hidden life within them and it was apparent, dreadfully apparent, he would not last any longer. "Take it...to...Princess...she knows." The Grove withered beneath their feet and the distrubing sound of the wood groaning filled the air. "Goddesses ...be with you all."

Raven bowed his head. "And with you." And let his tears fall without shame. "My Friend." And he let vengence fester.

And so it was that The Great Deku Tree had died.


	11. Chapter 11

"You, my Little Link, have proven that you are a capable warrior. I leave the Kokiri in your hands until Jason and I return. We will be back in two days time." Raven leaned down and cupped his child's face with a sad smile. "Two days, Son."

"Until then... Father." Lincoln watched his father and brother disappear behind the vibrant green curtain of the Kokiri Forest with a heavy heart. He could still feel the hot tracks his tears had made across his cheeks one too many times for his liking and he wiped at his face, fiercely, though all this did was make his face more raw.

Navi glanced up at her friend and found she did not have any words of comfort to offer him. The loss of the Great Deku Tree had affected everyone and in their joined grief they consoled one another, silently. "Saria... said that your old treehouse is fine for you to sleep in." Said the Fae after a long, pregnant silence.

The ten year old nodded but said nothing. He turned, eyes vacant, and walked with a steady stride to the home the Kokiri had made him when he was younger. A home Lincoln had spent time in during his random stays with the Eternal Children. The youngest Hudson had reveled in the days spent with Kokiri for they were the closest thing he had to kids his age. However, the lad never spent more than a two nights in the wood for it was feared he may turn into a skullkid though the Great Deku Tree swore such a thing would never happen.

Link frowned at that thought but does not have the energy to allow paranoia to settle in his bones. He would worry about turning into a monster later... The visage of his vine covered honorary Kokiri Tree House rose above the rest of the decorative, carved stumps and, as he got closer, Lincoln could feel the grieving eyes of the Eternal Children on him. The weight felt almost unbearable.

How was he supposed to take care of them if he was just a boy himself... and had he strayed into the Lost Woods as Raven ordered... would the Great Deku Tree still be alive?

Navi had told him that she sensed something was wrong with the Great Deku Tree. He had waved it off due to her recent case of total paranoia and, now, he regretted it. Link swallowed a hard lump of guilt and shivered beneath the cold claws of dread. The Great Deku Tree was gone and he would never be able to speak with him about his dreams... and about those odd moments when Death was so close.

And the Kokiri...

The Kokiri were now defenseless against the perils of the surrounding woods and Lincoln would have to be the one to prepare them in case of an attack. Saria, tears streaming down her bright girlish face, vowed that nothing would dare touch her friends if she had anything to do with it and, unsurprisingly, took charge in the painfully, dark shadow of the Deku Tree's death. The Kokiri had been commanded to stay in their homes until the first rays of morning... which seemed to be coming to soon for Lincoln liking.

The short climb up the ladder was cumbersome to the child for his sadness made everything more tiring and every limb heavier. Link sat on the mossy balcony carved from the trunk of long dead tree and let his fingers trace the swirling paths the wood made. He was exhausted but the day, the battle with Gohma, had made his body restless.

Navi curled herself in the crook of Link's neck and pressed her body against him in an effort to comfort them both. She sensed his need to talk but she was too weary... too hopeless. Ever since his nightmare Lincoln was on edge and it made Navi miss the carefree days of playing with the other Fae in the Woods.

"He said..." Link cleared his throat and distracted his friend from her dark thoughts. She scowled as he clenched and unclenched his jaw but he continued trying to speak through the lump in his throat. "The...uh, Great Deku Tree... he-he said something about a man..."

No response from his partner for she simply wished he would not speak.

Link squirmed in place and his fingers picked at the moss beneath his hand. He needed to talk to someone about what was gnawing at him. It was like some starved animal chewing on a meatless bone but when the young Lord opened his mouth to speak he found himself cut off.

"Please," Navi looked up at him with a face full of sorrow and anguish and she let her words flow. "Please, don't talk about your crazy dream anymore, I have just lost someone who has been more of a father to me than anyone I have ever known... You still have a father to tell you everything is going to-" She swallowed a sob and wrapped her arms about her tiny, blue frame. "I just don't want to hear anymore about this man, your dreams... or any of it." Her white eyes almost glared at him. "I am tired and I am in... pain."

Link did not respond out of shock, guilt, or some other emotion that he could not decipher. Instead, he simply nodded and listened to the sound of her four, tiny wings fly away. The ten year old sat on the small balcony for a very long time after that and just watched the forest grow darker.

None of the stray Faeries came out and that worried him but he did not vocalize it, instead, he continued to make observations of little meaning until some energy came to him.

Standing with a groan, Lincoln dusted his borrowed Kokiri green tunic off and ignored the pain from the injuries he had suffered during his battle with the Parasitic Queen. Link climbed from his house with the intent to go see Saria but it was several minutes later before he recognized the familiar trail that led toward the Deku Tree's Grove.

He had not intended to go there at all and the thought was expressed on his face. "What am I doing?" He whispered and cursed himself under his breath but something in him told him to go forward... to continue on the path he was on.

So he did.

It, the feeling, reminded him of the voice he had heard whilst dying next to the Wolfos' body. He did not know whether to be comforted or frightened although none of that mattered for his feet kept moving.

Link stopped at the entrance and looked for the moon... but his gaze fell upon the large lifeless Tree that had been just been alive only that morning.

All of the Hudsons had grown up with the Kokiri and, if not physically with them, then on the tales Raven would bring home about the Eternal Children and their Father. The Lord of White Tower had entrusted Lincoln to the wizened Tree's care and never had Link felt safer than in the Kokiri's Village.

Nothing could harm him here... nothing but a Wolfos and his own stupidity.

But the grand old Tree was dead... and Link no longer felt safe... and, looking into the dead, hollow eyes of that Tree, Lincoln realized how very much he was afraid of what was about to happen.

The Hyrule, his home, that he had known since birth was changing swifter than he was prepared for...

And Link was afraid of it.

Shaking; tears spilled, hot, out of almost incandescent coblat blue eyes and Lincoln Amadeus Hudson wept.

His knees gave out from under him and he felt sobs wreak havoc all over his body... his fingers dug into the grass and Link whispered to himself. "I don't know what I am supposed to do." The ten year old child looked up into those hollow eyes and felt fear, sorrow, grief, remorse, and guilt. "You said you knew it would be me... but why? I have brothers and nephews... and sisters who are better... who could have done better." His throat hurt but Link forced his words out. "Why... Why was it me?"

Silence answered his question and for a moment that was all that lingered. Silence.

"I never got to ask you... about the voice I heard... when I was dying." Link sat cross legged in the cool grass just on the slope heading down toward the Tree and allowed no barrier between his mind and mouth "And now all I want to know is... if you heard it too... and- and maybe that I'm not going crazy... that this dream that I have been having every night is just because..." The words choked him and Lincoln wiped, angrily, at the crystalline tracks running down his face... but after a moment they came as a soft, hoarse whipser. "I am afraid." His voice cracked, painfully. "That my family is going to be safe from that man... that man who had fire in his eyes." Lincoln groaned and took a deep breath. "That man who killed you."

A breeze blew, softly, across the grove and wrapped the boy in its embrace and in it a soft humming noise was heard.

Pointed ears picked up the noise and left the boy speechless for a moment. His tears and woes were forgotton like he was spell bound in the calm ringing. Link stood, shakily, and took a small step forward when a hand took his own.

"Link." It was Saria. Her eyes found his in the darkness and the two children regarded one another's state. She had been crying as well. "Navi couldn't find you. She was worried."

"Was she?" He asked, absently, and searched the area for the mysterious noise's source and when none was found he stopped. "Do... you hear that?"

Saria smiled a small sad smile and squeezed his hand. "That is our Emerald. It is calling to you because the Great Deku Tree named you its new master." She tugged at his hand and pulled him away from the grove turned graveyard. "You can claim it tomorrow... we all need to sleep."

"If we can."

They passed the shop and saw no one outside... neither could look at the odd shape burnt into the grass where Gohma fell. Link hugged his dearest friend, tightly, and let all his words pour into the embrace.

"Good night, Link." She whispered, allowing the contact to linger because she felt that if she let go both would tumble into the darkness around them.

Several hours later, Dawn stretched out her blood-orange fingers and cut through the blue-purple of night. None were ready to commit themselves to the day for it seemed better to pretend the events taken place were a dream rather than reality but when that dream was pierced by the calm rapping on each door... the dream was over.

Mido returned with darker circles about his eyes than when he left but he managed an almost invisible smile toward Link when he arrived at the base of Lincoln's ladder. "Got everyone up like you said."

"Good job." Link ran his fingers through his hair and situated his hat back onto his head with a small nod in greeting to Mido's partner, Vale. "Work will... do all of us good."

It took almost an hour for the Children to wake completely but once they were given tools and directions... they worked until they exhausted every outlet. They put every ounce of grief, heart ache, and energy that they could into tilling the soil, digging holes deep enough for saplings, gathering water for drinking and the plants, and seeding the earth. The sun beat down on their backs but still not one stopped for something about it felt cleansing to them... but then it was time plant The Seed.

The young Lord retrieved it from where his father had placed it in his tree house and gave it to Saria who seemed the best fit to do so.

"No," She smiled, handing it back to him. "You saved us all. We give the honor to you."

Link smiled, bowing low. "Thank you... but," He met every single Fae and Kokiri's gazes. "I will need your help." Together forsaking all tools, everyone dug a hole to place the Deku Tree Seed in and together they tucked it away in the dark confines of the earth where it would grow for seven long years into a knowledgable Deku Tree Sprout. It would take lifetimes for it to reach its predesscors' age.

They moved away from the Grove then and returned to their work. It seemed endless but progress was made.

"Link."

The ten year old turned from where he was crouched with his hands covered in dirt and wiped his brow. A feeling of pride swelled up into his chest as he surveyed the Eternal Children at work around him. They would be fine on their own and this lifted considerable weight from his shoulders. "Yes, Saria?"

"We should retrieve the Emerald now."

He stood and dusted his hands off onto his tunic even if it fared no better than his hands then rose a brow at her. "Now? We are in the middle of..." Lincoln met her eyes and sighed for he knew prolonging it would do little good. "Of course. Led the way." He shifted his belt and took the canteen that Mido offered him, graciously.

"It is inside... him." Mido whispered, taking it back, with an odd tone of disgust as the three snuck away from their fellow workers. "We didn't want them to... have to see it."

The lordling turned, sharply, toward the red head and felt his mouth turn downward."See... _What_?"

"We must open him. He died befor-" Saria's jaw clenched, tears sparkling in her indigo eyes, but she cleared her throat to finish. "Before you recieved it."

Link's hands balled into fists and his face fell into a Hudson frown. "Ah... but, how will we...?"

No one answered to his dismay.

The trio and their Faeries slipped away, unnoticed, and arrived at the Grove without complications. They all stopped and peered up into the Deku Tree's face with pangs of sorrow stabbing their hearts though guilt was more prevelant in Lincoln's.

"The, uh, sword should..."

"How do you know it is?" The boy asked and he didn't have to look their way to see both were severly uncomfortable. "Are you absolutely sure?"

Indigo eyes pinned Link's gaze and Saria felt anger seep into her soul though she did not dare lash out at the boy many ages younger than her. "Do you think we would let you cut open our father if we weren't sure, Link?" She asked as evenly as she could. Her Fae, Allievander, kept her usual silence and sat, calmly, braiding her long pink hair with a tranquil look upon her face.

"I'm... sorry."

Navi dived from Lincoln's shoulder and raced toward the Great Deku Tree's trunk. "We need to find... someplace that will work."

Vale, Mido's Fae, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "C'mon, Navi, do you really think there will be any place that's better than the rest? Go on, boy, just cut around the back so the Kokiri won't see." She fixed judging white eyes upon him. "You're brave, aren't you? The Deku Tree said so with his dying breath so, be brave then!"

Mido scowled. "Vale, be nice!"

"Mido, be quiet." The Fae countered, watching Navi search about the Tree's trunk with annoyance. "We all know I'm-"

"Abrasive?" Allievander stood and, gracefully, fluttered from Saria's shoulder like the Princess that she was. She was the eldest Faerie amoungst the Eternal Children and therefore had culminated respect amoung her kind like Saria had her own though that respect also stemmed from the fact she was the Faerie King's granddaughter. Saria and Allievander had been together since their respective births and knew many secrets which they rarely revealed to anyone but each other. "Stop waggling your tongue, child. We are all hurting with this loss but do not be cruel."

Vale bowed her head with shame. "I am sorry, Link."

"Good." Allievander, cutting Link's acceptance off, turned then and called out. "Navi, dear, stop that fluttering about. Our dear Deku Tree is not a natural wood specimen, you know that. The Children make shields from him for the Goddesses' sake!" The three children and two Fae all regarded the pink haired glowing guide. "Saria, my love, please do not think ill of me for this." Her voice was low but it was heard still.

Saria watched with anxiety biting at her heart. "Do what you must, Allie."

A glow pulsated between Allievander's hands and exploded into a variety of color before settling on a vibrant gold. "Forgive me, Great Deku Tree." It danced from her fingertips, high into the air, and rained down upon the ground... "Open... so that we may retrieve the Stone."

Leaves trickled down to the earth and slowly, agonizingly, the Great Deku Tree's trunk cracked with a deafening sound and revealed a fissure just below his mouth.

"The Kokiri Emerald awaits you, Link."

The boy swallowed but found comfort when Navi hovered next to him with a look of pure loyalty. Link took one shaky footstep forward and found more strength in each one that followed. "Farore, give me Courage." Lincoln whispered his prayer, softly, and descended into the dark abyss of the late Great Deku Tree.

The blackness settled like a weight and the air felt moist like someone's breathe against cold glass. The ten year old stumbled over what he hoped was a root and slammed into the wooden substance beneath him. His palm pressed against the floor and he made a grotesque observation... it crumbled and withered like decaying moss. A smell of death overcame the child and he staggered to his feet.

"Link, what is it?"

With wide eyes, Link sought out the glow of his Fae and covered his face with his hands to block the scent and the odd feeling of sickness seeping into his pores. "I don't feel well." Link dragged his feet forward and pressed his nostrils together but he couldn't get the smell out of his head. "Something is not right..." Dizziness overtook him. "I-I need out." Link murmured and clausterphobia set in. The walls constricted tighter, the floor rose up, and pressed him to the ceiling, Link collapsed to the crumbling ground to pull his body into the fetal postition. "I need out. I need out. I need out." He chanted, softly, like a prayer.

Navi landed on the ground in front of his face and jerked at his fingers to get a better look at him. "Link, it's alright. We're almost there! The Stone is testing you!"

Link stared at her with grave intensity. "A t-t-test? This is not real?"

"Yes." The Fae lied with a soft, reassuring smile while her tiny, pointed ears twitched. "You've got to claim it. You must experience what the Great Deku Tree did... that is what it is saying." Navi held out her hands as if she was about to recieve something and ignited a small flame. "Follow this light, Link," Her voice came out calming and serene... which called out to his frantic state. "and be sedated, brave, calm, relaxed, at ease. Listen to my voice, trust me, follow this light, and trust me."

Hypnotized, the magick seeped into his bones and the child did as he was told. Link ignored each stumble and the waves of sickness slamming into his young body until after what felt like an eternity of walking through the darkness... a light shone. It shimmered behind Navi who extinguished her flame and smiled at her friend. Lincoln stared at her with shock. "How did you do that?"

"Calm you?" Navi smirked. "You didn't think advice was all the Fae were good for, did you? We are a-" She stopped and shook her head. "That's not important. Claim the Stone!"

Link nodded with a green shimmering stone glistened inside a pillar of light that had no source. Lincoln swallowed and reached out a quivering hand... his fingers brushed the smooth gold swirled inside... and wrapped themselves around the Kokiri Emerald. It took both hands to relinquish the odd artifact though it was no heavier than a feather. The ten year old gazed into the relic and released a breathe he hadn't known he was holding. "Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

The boy stumbled from his slumber with the grace of a drunken Goron and, with help from Saria and Navi, managed to gather the gear he needed. His father had returned after the two days, as promised, and had given his son strict instructions to meet he and Jason outside the Forest the next morning.

A dark grey-blue long sleeved undershirt, a light shirt of chain mail, and a black tunic with the howling wolf of White Tower embroidered on the front was given to the boy to wear along with grey, cotton breeches and black leather boots. A dark ensemble to show mourning for the Great Deku Tree as the three Hudsons rode out to see the King.

The plan had shocked Lincoln for he had not expected his Father to make such a drastic decision after such a traumatic experience. Raven had frowned at his youngest child when Lincoln questioned why they were in such a hurry... why they could not take the time to grieve, to rest... but the boy recieved no answer.

Only a horse that was not his old steed, Spirit.

She was tied up away from the makeshift camp and balked when anyone approached. Her name was Epona, Link found out while a guard was cursing out her name, and she was a beautiful, clydesdale, pony. Her eyes held a wildness to them and Link fell in love with it... but he could not approach her to his disappointment.

"She was fine when we were leaving..." Jason frowned, crossing his arms over his armored chest. He wore a black brigandine; a jacket resembling a doublet made of leather with small oblong metal plates riveted into it; that would protect him from arrows. There was brief mention of Janette's fury being ignited when her husband refused to wear a full suit of armor... but she saw reason when Raven said the trip was meant to be riden swiftly. Jason's outfit held no color but black which made his green eyes and red hair stand out amoungst the ever greens of the forest behind him.

Link frowned and turned his coblat eyes back to the pony that was to be his. "Did someone spook her?"

"No, Talon's daughter made up a fuss about the thing leaving... something about her mother." Jason shrugged and pulled a piece of parchment from a pocket in his pants. "I think the two were close... Oh, here, the girl said this would calm her though we don't have anything to play music on..."

Link took the paper and sighed. "How would a song calm an animal?"

"It is just the same as when your Mother sings to you, Brother." Jason smiles, wisely, and looked almost like Raven in the moment. "Music is not to be taken lightly, Link... espeically not _here._" A gloved hand indicated the forest behind him. "Father always taught us that... so keep it in mind, hm?"

"I will." Link smiled, passing the script to Navi who had been pawing for it. Jason left the two and the odd pony alone to help ready the soliders they were leaving to protect the Kokiri. "What do you think?"

Navi shrugged. "The Fae have such melodies that have certain properties... perhaps this is just the song to help Epona calm her nerves." The Faerie flew forward and sang the few notes off the paper with a high, but pleasant falsetto voice... but to no avail.

"Try this." Link turned and found Saria's form peeking out from the edge of the Kokiri Forest border. Her appearance was the same as always, neat and vivid green, but her eyes were chaotic and dull. In her hands, she held out her favorite instrument: her ocarina. "... I wanted you to have it before you left anyways."

Emotion caught the boy off guard and Link practically tackled his friend when he reached her. His arms wrapped around her and squeezed her as tightly as she squeezed him. But, "Thank you..." was all he said because he was too afraid to said good-bye... something told him he would not be seeing her for a long time.

After a few heart breaking moment, Saria pulled away and looked deep into the cobalt blue eyes of Lincoln Amadeus Hudson and smiled, softly. "You're my best friend, Link." She pressed a kiss to his forehead and pressed her ocarina into his hands. "This is a symbol... that we will always be friends." A stray tear fell and Allievander wiped it away in silence with a brief nod of farewell to Navi. The two children stared at each for a long moment before the emotional tension broke... causing both to turn and walk away as fast as they could with a promise that they would met again being silently understood.

"Lincoln!" Lord Raven stood next to some of White Tower's Elite soliders with the stern expression he reserved solely for his men. "Go ready your horse, my boy, we are leaving now."

"Are you sure I should not ju-"

"Go, Lincoln." The greying Noble replied with a voice that held no room for sway.

Link frowned and gave a curt bow that showed he was not happy... a short distance away Epona struggled to get away from the hands trying to saddle her. Navi flew out in attempts to help the pony calm down but none could do so.

"Try playing that song, Link." The Fae sighed, blinking away the traces of exhaustion seeping into her. "Maybe Saria's Ocarina will help."

Having been taught by his friend to play, Link put the flute to his lips... and played...

The last notes echoed out and found silence in the camp. Several eyes had drifted over to where Link stood with one hand patting Epona's muzzle. "Let us be friends, now..." He whispered in a soothing voice as he took the reins from one of the guards.

The morning stretched on for several long hours which found Lincoln and Epona enjoying a strong gallop between the trees of Faron Woods which was the forest surrounding the Eternal Children's Village. Not many knew the paths to the Kokiri's hidden home and so they were often forgotten about until a relative disappeared... then they were always blamed. The kids did not care, however, for such talk never reached their ears. The Great Deku Tree never allowed it... but he was dead and so now White Tower's Knight would protect them until the Sprout would grow.

Still, even knowing the men who guarded his immortal friends, Link worried.

"Father?"

"Yes, Son?" Raven sighed, wondering which of the three questions his son would repeat this time.

"Why must I visit with the King?" Lincoln squirmed and attempted to adjust the chain mail beneath his tunic. He was unused to the way it pinched at his skin.

Jason growled and dropped his head back in aggravation. "Is it not enough that you are simply being ordered too?"

"Every order has a reason." Navi countered with a sly smile which earned an appreciating nod from her partner.

"The King and our Family have buisness together." Raven answered, glancing backwards where his sons followed in a lazy line behind him. "All of it will be explained when we get there."

"We are _two days_ travel from Hyrule Castle, Father."

A grimance from Jason and no reply from Raven sent the travelers into silence. No guards accompanied them for the Hudsons had left them all at the entrance to the Kokiri Woods and so no others were there to speak too... but silence did not bode well for the young Hudson.

Link closed his eyes and dipped his head back to allow the warm sunshine that spilled through the green canopy to pour across his face. The ten year old shifted in his saddle and glanced sideways at his eldest brother with a frown. "Are you sure the Kokiri will be-"

"Fine." Jason replied, sweeping emerald eyes over to meet a blue eyed gaze with a glare. "We posted the best of our Knights, Brother... and, as Father and I have pointed out _several_ times, Thomas will be joining them soon."

"Still." Navi crossed her arms. "_We_ should have stayed. Link can s-"

"Navi." Lord Raven's voice cut through like cold steel. "If it was not for Hyrule's better interest then I would have left Lincoln with the Children. _However, _it is not. I need Link to come with us for the good of _us all_. The Kokiri Emerald is in our hands now and there is no reason for another attack upon the Village. They are brave men, good men, and better fighters. We will not be caught unaware by any manner of beast this time." Raven turned and regarded the young Fae and his son. "No harm will come to the Kokiri."

Another long pause ensued in which all felt the effects and during it all grew increasing uncomfortable. Jason stretched, rolling his shoulders, and tugged at the brigandine he wore for it was several uncomfortable. He had put strong leather arm guantlets on and leg guards made of the same material which mirrored his father's own garb though Raven deemed it all unnessacary.

Evangeline and Janette had not and forced both men to promise they would put them on when the departed from their soliders.

The boy, frustrated with the feeling that he did not understand everything going on, growled. "I do not understand why I am so important in all this."

Raven glanced back toward his son and pulled back on his reins so that it halted their tiny party. "Lincoln..." A pause and Raven felt guilt pang at his heart when his child looked at him with eyes filled with uncertainty. "You are important for a crucial reason..." A soul shuddering sigh. "You were given the Emerald to protect and I have never known the Great Deku Tree to do something out of a singular whim. True, he could have done a thing because you defeated that monster but... he refused to allow me to battle Gohma before she attacked. I believe he had you in mind the whole time." Raven ran a hand through his child's hair. "However, that is not the reason you are with us today... and I hope this- this event will be nothing more than old men's paranoia."

Knowing where his father was going, Jason turned to his brother. "We mean no ill by any of this... Wh- Hm, uh, what I mean to say is that we mean you no unhappiness by this."

"By _what_?" The boy pressed, finally recieveing an answer for the questions he had been asking since they left the Kokiri Forest.

Raven sighed and said with a voice that did not allow objections and held many unspoken apologies. "You are going to be wed to the Princess of Hyrule... I recieved word from His Majesty that he enforced the idea before we returned to retrieve you."

"I'm... to..."Link stared at his family with a look of pure bewilderment as his cobalt blue eyes grew wide with shock. The ten year old swallowed after several long minutes and remembered to breath after a worried prompt from Navi. "I-I'm to... to _WHAT_?!"

Raven winced but he did not lose composure and began to explain, slowly. "The man who murdered the Great Deku Tree has shown great power in such a feat. He managed to vanquish a entity that had been around for thousands of years." The Lord of White Tower sighed and ran his hand through his salt and pepper locks with a frustrated face. "He killed the Great Deku Tree and I have recieved word from Darunia, the Goron's New Leader, that he has made appearances to both he and King Zora. Threatening them."

"But what does this have to do with _me?!_" Link gapped and resisted the urge to jump from his saddle and bolt away like a pup hit with a stick.

"Dear Brother, a man with such adacity will not hesitate to kill the King. _If _our suspicions are correct and, in all likely chances, they are. We will need an Heir to the Throne-" Jason's face crimsoned when Raven turned to him with a scowl at his wordings. "Uh, we shall need someone to be able to ascend the Throne in such an event."

Raven nodded though solemnly. "The Princess could do so on her own but... this is a ruthless man."

Link frowned. "You expect him to murder them both? He would never make it out of the Castle alive!"

"She is the only Heir." Jason folded his arms. "_Listen_." He scolded, his temper setting in. "This man mudered _The Great Deku Tree_. Do you know how strong, how powerful, how knowledgable the Deku Tree was? He saw the rise of Hyrule itself and Hylia herself planted his seed!" Jason face inflated with deep inhale. "And. That. Man. Mudered. Him." The last five words were spat out with the very emotion all three males were feeling. "We need a plan in the case that King Harkinian and his daughter dies. His Highness agreed to marry you to Princess Zelda because of the history of our families and because he fears an assualt as well... Your prodigious skills with a blade also helped smooth negotiations." Jason's hands dropped to his side and the plump, red head sighed. "Brother," He began after several moments and an added look of apology. "We, your family who love you very dearly, would not force you to this at such a young age. You are the Fourth Son and by all rights you should either be at a Temple or learning some sort of craft. We did not want that life for you. None of us did... and know that we all grieve this decision but it must be done."

The three Hudsons stared at each other for a long while.

"I would not tie you to a fate so dismal, my child." Raven murmured. "The Throne is a bloody buisness and I hate dipping my own hands in it... and worse, yours... but if Edric Harkinian and his child dies... We shall need someone that Hyrule knows and who they can put their faith behind to lead them."

"Already the People respect you as the Wolfos Slayer and now that word is sure to spread about Gohma... You are a prime canidate." Jason added with some softness.

Lincoln swallowed and felt very much his age in that instant. He wanted his mother to console his fears and tell him everything would be alright... but she was not there and nothing would be all right. He only had his decided Fate and the weight of Navi on his shoulder. "But I'm just a child." He whispered, weakly.

"You are my son and you have a much greater destiny than you know, my Little Link." Raven clicked his reins and turned his steed toward the setting sun slipping beneath the top of the hill ahead of them. "Come, now, my children. We need to find a place to camp." In the distance the sound of thunder rolled. "Quickly."


	13. Chapter 13

Raven scratched at his dark, greying stubble with a contemplating frown on his face. The old Lord sat on a rock with a crude lean-to over him that shielded him from the down pour of rain. He had a blanket draped over his shoulders that did little to keep the chill out and their fire was not lighting to the frustration of his eldest son.

The flint splashed into the mud and Jason stood up, pushing his soaked hair away from his face. His green eyes burned with fury as he spat out several curses that probably had Joanna turning in her grave. Navi sighed from where she sat on Lincoln's knee and gave the man a deadpan stare. "Now, can I try?"

"Murgafurglefragga." Was the odd rolling growl that came from Link's oldest brother which no one dared to try and translate in fear that Nayru, Farore, or Din would strike them down. Jason dropped next to his father and scowled.

Raven rose a brow and smiled, humorously, as he patted his son's back. "Go ahead, Navi."

The Fae's body glowed almost too brightly out in the dark of the night's storm. Lightening flashed as she floated about the fire pit but Navi was unfazed. Her white eyes closed, her short blue hair flailed in the wind, and her hands sparked a flame... the wood was soaked by that point but still a fire burned across the branches collected. Navi turned with a cocky smirk and gave Jason a smug look which he made another rude grunt at.

"Thank you, Navi." A appreciative noc as the girl returned to her partner. "Now, that we have warmth, let us set up the first watch." Raven spoke, eyes roaming over to where Lincoln sat in silence at his own little tent. The family had managed to erect their shelters before the rain set in so the ground was mostly dry but it would still be a miserable night. Raven had hoped his sons would have made some jokes about their situations... or at least his littlest boy would have smiled at his brother's fumblings in the rain.

Jason nodded with a slight improvement in his mood. "I'll take first watch."

"Good. I will take the next."

Link's cobalt eyes peered, blindly, out into the night and his thoughts raged across his young face. The ten year old wrapped his blanket tighter around his body and flopped over on another he had folded up to use as a pillow. "Wake me up for my turn."

Raven nodded but did not speak. There were no words to say.

After a while, Navi moved away from the fire to perch herself on Raven's shoulder where she sat with a huff. "Maybe we should just let him sleep the whole night..." She dropped her chin into her palm and shrugged off the cold chill that shivered down her spine. "Wish I knew a spell to make him happy."

"As do I, Little One." Raven held out his hand which the tiny girl stepped into and placed her next to his head as he laid down wrapped in his blanket. "I am to old for this, Jason." The Lord grunted, throwing a pebble away from his back. "Why are there no Inns out in this blasted Field?" The sixty year old was a sturdy man at his age and rarely complained about it though at that moment he wished he was 20 years younger.

Jason smirked, handing his father an extra cover. "Because that is a perfect target for robbers."

"Bah, hire guards."

A chuckle and the forty-five year old allowed a smile to cross his face. "Maybe I can talk Darion into being an Innkeep rather than a Healer?"

"Ahhh, but we're getting too old for that. Someone will need to run the Tower." Raven smiled despite the storm providing background noise and lifted a part of his make-shift pillow to cover the sleeping Fae next to his head.

"I am only forty-five." Jason scowled. "_You_ are the old one."

Raven laughed and felt better for it. Jason had been his greatest companion since the man was born when Raven was but fifteen and they always could cheer the other up. "Old, am I? It sounds like I should retire then!" The fire popped and cracked as the two men grinned, stupidly, at one another. "Ahhh, but I must sleep now... Wake me up in a few hours, Jay Bird."

Jason smiled at the old nickname that only Joanna and his Father ever used and watched those grey-blue eyes close. "Good night, Father."

It was not until early the next morning before even the sun rose that Lincoln was woken up by his Father's gentle shake. "Come, my boy, let us rise with the dawn." Raven's boot kicked out the last traces of their fire and the sight had Link's stomache churning.

It was like his life being extinguished.

Navi landed in front of his face. Her own girly one gave him a soft smile as she spoke. "Pre-Wedding jitters?" He could hear the uncertainty in her voice as she tired to make light of their situation and Link had to fight a glare.

He forced out a pitiful laugh. "You could say that." In silence, the ten year old scooped up his belongings and took Epona's reins from Jason with a yawn. Lincoln clambered into his saddle and took in a deep breath. "On your command, Father."

Raven glanced over at Jason who returned the same guilt ridden face before spurring his horse into a hard gallop... that expression, however, was broken in seconds.

"Link!" Navi hands took hold of the boy's bangs as Epona lept to life and charged past the two elder Hudsons. "What are you doing?!"

The boy jerked back on the reins, frantically, and screamed back with a shocked look. "Nothing! She's g-" The pony reared up and the Lordling's heart dropped into the pit of his stomache as Epona attempted to throw him. "Epona! Calm down!"

"Link!" Raven's voice was at his side, grabbing at the pony's reins, but the boy was too focused on not falling from his horse to met his father's eyes. "Let go! Jason grab him!"

"No!" Lincoln growled, digging his fingers into his steed's mane and closing his eyes as the wind ripped past his face.

Epona dashed across the green fields of Hyrule with crazed speed and a frenzied neigh. Her lungs heaved beneath the ten year old who refused to release her even as his partner screamed that he was going to die if he did not and her hooves kicked up the red earth leaving a trail for Raven and Jason to follow in the shadow of the rising sun. Lincoln peeked from behind his eyelids and turned his cobalt eyes to the dawn...

The hill crested and suddenly the horse stopped in the embrace of a strong gust of wind.

Like a sea of neverending green, Hyrule Field opened up with a promise of adventure and freedom in the fiery light of morning. Trees dotted the land far below, sapphire skies kissed the emerald blades covered with drops of dew, and a constant breeze blew to stave off the heat that radiated from the life buried beneath Epona's hooves.

Link's mouth dropped open for he had only ever seen Hyrule Field from afar. He would have never believed it was so large had he not been there with the huffing of a crazed horse under him. Cobalt eyes grew wide and pointed ears twitched at the sound of singing drifting along the course of a calm wind. "What in Farore's name...?"

"Its the song that Epona likes!" Navi exclaimed, breathlessly, and ran a hand through her short, blue windswept hair.

His horse moved beneath him and Link prepared himself as Epona launched from her position. She raced down the hill fast enough for the boy to worry that her legs would collapse but he did not dare let go.

"Hold on, Navi!" He called out though he realized how silly it seemed moments later and laughed, maniacally. It was not until he was face to face with a bright, amber eyed, red headed girl that he stopped. "... Were you the one singing?"

The stranger's face turned almost the color of her hair and her eyes grew wide at the sight of him. "Oh... OH my... A-Are you..." She gasped. "My Lord! I am so sorry!" Several quick bows came after the apology and the girl stood as straight as she could while Link only stared on... making the experiencely entirely too akward for both. "I-If I had known Epona would... Would come running like that I would have never-"

"Woah!" Navi's voice cut in with a shrill cry and the Fae lept from her charge's head with a rose eyebrow. "Can we at least get your name before you start sputtering apologies?"

Link rolled off the saddle, barely managing to land on his feet, and held out a hand with an attempt at a smile though the way his stomache was churning he surmised it probably looked like a grimace. "I am Lincoln Hudson, fourth son of Raven Hudson the Lord of White Tower."

A quick survey of his location and a large wooden sign read 'Lon Lon Ranch' above a equally sized metal gate. A red roof could be spied over the rock wall that jutted oddly out of the center of Hyrule Field in a near complete circle. The sounds of horses, cuccos, and a man shouting could be heard and Lincoln quickly assumed the girl before him had snuck away from her duties to practice her voice.

He could not help but be a pleasantly surprised at the idea.

"I know who you are." Those amber eyes narrowed and added a silent 'I am not stupid' before a bright smile accented her humble, but pretty features. "My name is Malon... my Dad owns Lon Lon Ranch... you wrote to him, so, I guess you knew that."

"I did not know he had daughter." Lincoln shook his head and fought the jitters of adrenaline coursing through his body. "I heard you put up a fight about Epona leaving... is that why you sang?"

Malon's face burned. "I, uh, n-no, um... I..." The girl let out a nervous giggle which made Navi shoot Lincoln one of her signature annoyed as the rancher found her words. "My Mother... she used to sing that song all the time, my Lord-"

"Link."

"Oh... okay, uh, Link." She smiled at that. "My Mother sang that song to me and I sang it for Epona when her mom died." Malon rocked back on her heels and clapped her hands with a shrug. "I was missing them both so I just snuck out here to sing befo- Oh!"

Link rose a brow and glanced behind him to find his father and brother approaching with disapproving faces. "My Father, Lord Raven, and my brother, Lord Jason." He wrapped his hand in Epona's rein in case she suddenly decided to bolt again though he knew it would do little good to try and stop her... nothing but break his arm. The Lordling scowled at his horse. "Epona gaves us a fright with her... wildness."

"More like her love of music." Navi landed on the top of Link's head and fold her legs beneath her. "This pony has been nothing but trouble, Malon..." The Faerie pushed as much meaning into her words as she could. She wanted a different horse... one less likealy to kill her and her partner.

He understood, immeadiatly, and spoke as Raven halted with a stern glare at no one imparticular. "She has been." Link met Malon's amber eyes and she blushed an entirely different way. " Malon," Hope rose from the pools of her golden eyes and Lincoln felt regret at losing his new friend and happiness at giving the girl her pet back. "would you allow me to trade Epona out for a more suitable steed?"

"Indeed." Snorted Jason with the deep, traditional, Hudson frown.

Raven gave a nod, approvingly. "And please, my dear, make it the fastest your Ranch has to offer. I will pay for any difference, of course."

Malon sighed, scratching at her tied back long, red locks. "That's the problem, my Lord." She bit her lip and patted Epona's head, softly. "She is the fastest. That is why my Father let you have her." Jason glared. "B-But! If you don't like her than we can find another!" Malon gave a nervous smile. "I'll get my Dad." The girl dashed away leaving the scent of hay in her wake and a antsy Epona behind.

"What happened back there?" Raven crossed his arms and tugged the reins away from his youngest child.

"Apparently, the horse has an obession with the girl's song. And the girl." Navi replied with a dry expression. "A warning would have been nice."

Jason shifted his weight on his saddle and massaged the bruises developing on his legs. "She babbled about the song before we left. She said nothing about the horse."

"It does not matter, now." Raven sighed, patting the distress pony on her muzzle with a calm demeanor. "Epona will stay here until she is ready to be parted with Talon's girl... if ever. Link will get a new horse and we will be off. We are not but a few hours ride from the Castle now... we made considerable progress in an event."

Jason nodded, green eyes cast toward the horizon. "I can see the Castle from here... do you see it, Brother?"

"I'll see plenty of it soon enough." Link glowered, shooting his brother a violent glare. "I do not care too look."

"Mature until maturity smacks you in the face, I see." Jason countered, venomously. "You want to know what goes on in adult affairs, Linc-"

"Jason, leave him be." Raven cut in but was ignored.

"-oln? Then we will let you be in them." His green eyes clashed with bright blue and the forty-five year old clenched his fists. "You are fortunate to be given the life you have been given. You could have very well ended up the bastard of some-"

"Jason!" The Lord of White Tower seethed. "Quiet yourself!"

"Low Knight or abanoned by dead parents with no family! We are giving you a chance to do some great things for this land as a righteous King whether Harkinian dies or no!" Jason ignored the grey-blue murderous look from his father and added. "Now, wise up, _Little Link_, or else you are in for a rude awakening. The People of the court are as merciless as that Wolfos that left those nasty scars on your back and I intend to show them the might of our name. Do not do us any injustices."

"Or _what_?" Link growled, baring his teeth like the very creature he had fought those two years ago. "Are you going to pull your fat ass from the horse and _fight me?_"

_"I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS FOOLISHNESS ANYMORE!"_ Raven bellowed and clapped both his boys on the sides of their heads with a swiftness that surpassed his age. "Jason, you quite your tongue or else I will beat you like I have never before." His eldest cowered in defeat as the Lord turned his rage to the youngest. "Lincoln, you have shown me you can be a warrior. Show me you can be a _Man_."

Lincoln glared and felt little comfort even as Navi rested her cool hands on the stinging, red flesh of his cheek. "Aye, _My Lord_."

"Apologies, Father." Jason murmured, sulking away as Talon, an oaf of a man with a bushy beard growing on his jolly features, approached with great caution.

Raven smiled at the man with a friendliness that he learned dealing with the odd Lords and Ladies of Hyrule's court. "Talon, old friend, what kind of deal shall we make today?"


	14. Chapter 14

_(__A/N:__ So I have struggled and struggled with this chapter over the last three days. Nothing is wanting to work with me... so I apologize if you get confused during the course of this. The ending of this chapter turned out better than planned so that's a plus, I guess. lol_

_I've checked and double checked for errors... though I never seem to catch them all. I apologize for those too. :P_

_Enjoy!)_

The Banquet Hall of Hyrule Castle felt much more open than that of White Tower's with its twenty foot high windows that held stained glass depictions of King Edric Harkinian's favorite legends. The table was filled with a colorful assortments of silver platters covered with suculent dishes that dared even the most polite man to dive in without a 'please' or 'thank you'. A plush red carpet lined with golden thread sat beneath the bountiful table that was framed by two masterfully carved fireplaces bearing the Hylian Crest.

The room radiated warmly dressed in its vibrant crimsons and golds but none of that warmth fell on the blue eyed boy dressed in black.

Link had changed from his weather stained clothes the moment he was ushered into the Castle to his designated room. The Hudsons had arrived late and were grateful for the feather beds already warmed and ready for them but, the next morning Link found no desire to leave his royally decorated room and instead focused on writing home to his Mother.

None of the letters made it to a messenger however as Navi claimed they were too cruel. The Fae instead made her partner sit down and focus on attempting to conjure a flame after he expressed some interest in the magickal arts. Navi doubted Link had any ability in regards to sorcery but she knew he would feel better for a few hours if she lured him away from the thoughts of what Jason had said... and his impending marriage.

Link had been grateful until the servents arrived with new garb.

The new outfit was to be worn to the dinner and, although the feast was meant to be celebratory, the Hudsons were still grieving the Great Deku Trees death so the material consisted only of the color black. Navi thought it was appropriate for the boy's mood though she wished he would try to find a positive spin on the whole situation.

Raven greeted his child at Link's room and the Lordling realized that they all would be wearing the same somber colors. It would make them stand out like a blooming rose in the dead of winter and he despised the thought.

The journey to the Hall would have been silent if not for Navi's excitment at the Castle decor and Lincoln found himself enjoying her company at that moment. Jason was in foul mood, like himself, and Link was grateful for someone being able to pull out of the darkness that hung so close.

The greetings, introductions, small talk, went passed like a blur and Link had to stumble with names when approached by a Lord or Lady.

"_OH!_" A woman dressed in a fine, intricate, fitted silk gown spoke, dramatically, and effectively centered all attention on her. She was a portly woman with bright red cheeks that need none of the rogue painted on them nor any of the other caked on make-up she wore. Lady Goldmine was the servants' nickname for her and the one the gossipers prefered. "_Yes_, that woman is _intolerable!_ Wanting to be called _Master_ instead of Mistress, _HMPH_. That Impa may be a woman but I doubt she is one by anything but name."

Link rolled his eyes and sighed through his nose. "Am I going to have to deal with these people for the rest of my life?"

"Only until your fifty. Hopefully by then they will all be dead." Navi grinned at the small smirk that shot across Lincoln's face but frowned when his eyes shot to the Hall's entrance... bulging in shock.

_They_ had arrived.

King Edric Harkinian was a formidable man with a short crop of black locks and a large curling, black beard and at first glance he appeared harsh with his distant, brown eyes. It would soon be found out that the King enjoyed a good laugh and did so often enough for his emerging wrinkles took shape around his smiles. He was the kind of man, Raven explained in a hushed whisper, to put all his faith into those he was around... which included the two-faced royals of the court and the all infamous King of Thieves.

A woman entered behind the King and was the emodiment of a warrior. Her build was masculine with a touch of a woman's curve though she hid it under a skin tight one piece suit and a perfectly fitted suit of armor crafted for quick movement. She had pristine white hair tied back in a tight pony tail, dark tan skin, and the same crimson eyes that Lincoln's Sheikah teacher, Adele, had.

Link opened his mouth to question his father about whether this was the Impa that all the Lady Goldmine kept chattering about when _she _appeared. A tiny girl with porcelain skin and violet eyes that walked with a grace that would shamed a feline. She was beautiful for a girl of ten and it was easy to see why Princess Zelda Marie Harkinian was considered the Jewel of Hyrule.

"At least she isn't ugly." Navi murmured as Raven shooed her away, playfully, from his plate of grapes.

"My Ladies, my Lords, my friends," The King laughed and gave a wink. "And my enemies. I welcome you to this momentous occasion." A large hand with a ring on each finger pushed the Princess to the front who made no attempt to hide a glare. "The union of my beloved Zelda to my friend Raven Hudson's son, Lincoln." A broad grin.

An appropriate amount of applause with a few cheers from the more inebriated as Lord Raven took a stand and ushered his boy up. Link stood, akwardly, as his father began to speak. "Aye, my Liege, it truly is a special occasion and we are humbled to know that we shall share our family with yours." Raven spoke with a warm fluidity but his words made Link shiver in revulsion. "My sons," A quick gesture to his two children behind him... of which only Jason bowed. "and I thank you for so graciously hosting this banquet."

"It is my pleasure." A quick understanding passed as their gazes interlocked and Link frowned. "We are happy to have you. We shall be family soon after all."

Everyone sat and soon the feast began.

Link averted his eyes to the food in his plate and felt a wave of nausea roll over him which Navi noted with a raised eyebrow. "Are you okay, L- My Lord?" The Faerie's voice sounded odd addressing her partner in such a formal way but Raven had deemed it nessacary for the banquet.

The _King's_ Banquet. His future Father-In-Law.

"Fine." Lincoln blew a calming breath through his nostrils and proceeded to roll a pea about his plate with a fork. He ignored the jab in his side from some minor Noble that laughed too loud and smiled too big for Link's liking. He had the urge to stick his knife in the annoying stranger's side but the weight of a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"My Lord, it was the wish of Master Impa that you be informed that she shall take up the duties of your teacher, Adele." The servant vanished without even a farewell which left the boy with a frown.

"Impa? Who is that?" Navi snarled her nose after biting into a sour grape.

Link lifted his utensil and jabbed it in the direction of the Shiekah woman standing behind the Princess' chair. "I don't know what her job is but clearly it has something to do with being a guard." His blue eyes settled on the girl's face and felt himself almost hating it. She was beautiful, poised, and delicate.

He had no desire to be beautiful, poised, and delicate.

He wanted to be riding through the forests around White Tower hunting with Thomas, running barefoot in the dirt with the Kokiri, and having the cooks throw flour at him for stealing sweet cakes before tossing him out.

But then her eyes met his and Link jerked his head away so fast that his head spun.

"You should eat something." Navi put his knife in his hand and hitched a thumb at a roasted pig behind her. "Really. You look pale."

Mechanically, Link did as she suggested.

To his left, Jason finished his own plate and glared at the Lord that their Father were talking too before he cut into the conversation that Lincoln had otherwised ignored. "By all rights as Lord, you should provided your People with at least bread and cheese."

"So it is my fault that their crops suffered?" The man, Reginald Horus, dressed in luxury that few men dared spend on mere clothes. A dark, blue vest with real golden thread sewn in intricate patterns over a fitted black-red silk shirt with breeches to match. His face was the face of any story book villian for it reminded Link of a wizard that had been shaved.

"No, that would be the Green Goddess' but it is your duty to serve them." Raven spoke with an almost gentle tone though his eyes all but stabbed the man.

Reginald snorted. "Is it?"

"Of course." King Edric swallowed his food and offered the Lords an unappreciating glare. "You must keep your People safe, keep them warm, and keep them happy if you do not then they shall no longer serve you or allow you to serve them." It was then that the King met Link's gaze. "This is expected of your King and it shall be expected of _you_."

The table, or perhaps the entire Castle, had fallen silent and gazes passed from the King to the boy with wide blue eyes. Reginald shifted in his seat in uncertainty before mumuring out, "Aye, Sire." and picking at his food.

"It is my regret that we did not meet in private before this, Lord Lincoln." Edric wiped his face and leaned back in his throne like chair. "How do you fare?"

Link knew everyone's eyes were on him and he hated it. He was in no mood to be tested by this man nor the rest of the Court but the presence of Navi gave him some comfort and a soft squeeze from her hand spoke thousands. In a strong voice, the ten year old spoke to Hyrule's King. "I am well, my Liege, though I still grieve the loss of the Great Deku Tree. He was a great friend to my family and I."

"I have heard of his departure." Edric's face fell and it was apparent he was distrubed by the events preceding the Hudsons' arrival. "We shall be family, soon, young Hudson and to see your sorrow... it pains my heart." A small, sad smile. "If there is anything you have need of then, please, _Son_, let me know." Edric stood suddenly and turned his attention to the silent crowd. "Lords and Ladies, I beg you all to please finish your supper in my absence for Lord Raven and I have buisness to discuss." A brief glance towards his stoic daughter. "Sweetling, perhaps, when you are finished you could show your Bethrothed about, hm?"

Both children stared at one another as their Fathers left the room.

Navi frowned. "Was it just me or did that seem more like a command then a request?"

"He is _King_." Jason growled, clearly in no better mood then previous morning. "You do what he asks no matter what." Though he did not explicitlly state any offense, Jason's tone cut and Navi's eyes glared.

"King, yes, but throwing two children together who are strangers seems-"

"You should learn to hold your tongue, Little Fae. Especially when you know nothing of which you speak." In a black fury, Jason flew out of the room with a growl.

Navi's shoulders slumped, her eyes watered up, and she let out a deep, shuddering sigh. "Why is everyone- I can't do anything right, can I?"

Link swept Navi up, gently, in his hand and cradled her against him. "You are _my_ partner, Navi, _my_ friend. Jason doesn't matter." His voice was a low whisper and his cold, coblat eyes swept across the spying crowd... commanding them to turn away. Link stroked his friend's back with his thumb as she cried incoherent words mostly revolving around the word 'useless'. "Navi, you have been trying to hard to try and cheer everyone up... to keep us altogether. I cannot thank you enough."

He stood and regarded the Lords and Ladies. "I bid you all good night." Link turned then to Zelda who watched with growing intrigue and bowed though he did not meet her eyes. "I beg forgiveness, Princess, that I shall not be able to join you. I must tend to my friend."

And she spoke with a voice almost too soft to her... and somehow it calmed the boy's frazzled nerves. "Take all the time you need, Milord." A gentle, understanding smile. "Perhaps, however, you could take the poor Faerie to the Courtyard?" Zelda turned and Impa leaned down to listen. "Would you escort, Lord Lincoln, to the garden?"

Knowing that being outdoors would help his friend and that he had little choice in the matter, Link expressed his thanks then followed the rigid woman through the doors.

Zelda sighed and tucked loose lock beneath her lavander headress... her finger stroked the golden medallion atop her forehead, briefly, before she continued picking at her meal. She was not quite hungry for food... a challenging book or perhaps another peak into Impa's own collection but not her Father's odd delicacies. A frown settled on her lips. "Ciera?"

A servant appeared with a bright smile. The Princess had learned all of their names, their husbands or wives names, and even their children. She was well regarded within the Castle and so was treated with more kindess than even the King himself. "Yes, Princess?"

"Could you see to it that my bed be warmed in... a half an hour, or so, and that I have a few of the novels from my section of the Library." A brief pause. "Eddard should know a few I would enjoy."

"Aye, My Lady." Ciera, a mousy woman though sweet, paused and glanced at the girl's plate. "Princess, may I speak?"

They spoke in whisper but their interaction had garnered the attention of Lady Goldmine who rose a brow at the Princess. Zelda glowered at the annoying woman but returned her attention to Ciera with a sweet smile. "Of course."

"You have not eaten much, Sweet Princess... is there something you would rather have or are you unwell?"

Zelda felt her heart warm at the servant woman's worry. Her Mother had been right... 'treat everyone with kindess and they shall return it tenfold'. "I would enjoy some sweet rolls. They may settle my stomache."

"Of course, My Princess." Ciera squeezed the girl's hand and would have kissed her forehead had their not been guests. It was something she had done since the girl was a babe.

Zelda had been raised by many of the men and woman within the halls of Hyrule Castle for they had brought them from Catalina when her Grandfather died... thus allowing her Father the Throne. She was taught how to sew, cook, dance, sing, and how to play various instruments. The Princess knew she was spoiled with her silk dresses and gold adornments but she knew that it all came with a price.

The Throne and an arranged marriage before she even knew what womanhood was. A wedding to a boy... a boy with a faerie. The thought sent shivers down the girl's spine and her thoughts returned to an odd dream she had been having.

Black clouds, dark shadows, the whisper of death clinging in the air, and blood splashes to the ground to soak the soil already drenched. Lightening flashes and _those eyes, those eyes on fire,_ appear with a hatred, malice, and a power to overwhelming that it takes her very breath away. She is sure that those eyes belong to the Gerudo King, Ganondorf.

She frowned, suddenly, and took a sip from her wine. A luxury she was only allowed at such occasion and only half a glass. Zelda leaned back in her chair and plucked at a loose string in her dress. Ganondorf was the symbol of Evil in her dream... could Link be the symbol of good? It had come with a great shining stone but the Kokiri would never let that go... would they?

Zelda could not answer her own questions, to her dismay, and settled for eavesdropping on the conversation being held several chairs down from her. The sixty or more people made it hard but she focoused and soon drowned out all the other noises.

"Those Hudsons... always rushing!" Reginald's voice spoke with a tone that the girl knew well. Mockery. "Rush to the altar, rush to war! Rush to the altar, rush to war! How they ever had time to have so many children, I will never know!" He laughed along with his so-called friends. A group of Lords (and Lady Goldmine who Zelda knew as Venessa) that were known to be cut throat.

"_Hmph_, to _me_ they are nothing but a bunch of ruffinians dressed in silk!" Lady Goldmine patted at her red coated lips and smirked, beastily. "Our poor Princess shall have to deal with that savage little boy!" The woman's eyes fell on the girl but did not see her. "A _proper _Lord would have never let his child near those Woods never-the-less fight _monsters_ in them." They all tended to overlook her until they could find a way to butter-up to her Father through her.

She despised them.

_"And _what was that thing?" Another woman cut into the conversation, eagerly taking in the attention she sought. "It should not have been allowed at the table!"

A bearded man snorted. "You expect them to be civilized boarded up in that White Blemish?"

"Honestly, this whole little arrangment is... Impractical." Lord Willard, who would have been handsome if not for the fact he was missing most of his teeth. "The boy has little to offer his Throne. It would have been wiser fit to marry her off to-"

"Anyone else?" Reginald laughed. "White Tower would be an asset considering how it was the only place never breached in the 100 Years War but why marry her to the runt when Jason has son?"

"_I_ think he felt sorry for the _poor _dear." Goldmine answered like her usual dramatic self. "_And_ there _is _always the fact he may still hold a _flame _for Raven's wife."

Reginald scowled. "Ah," Took a drink from his wine and seemed stung at the mention of the woman. "Evangeline, yes."

Lord Willard sucked something from off of one of his eight teeth and chuckled. "Still sore about her rejecting you, eh?"

Zelda accepted the rolls from Ciera and gave a soft nod with a silent, grateful thanks. She knew Reginald's group did not approve of her wedding though Zelda's reasons and theirs differed. Her Father had promised he would not make her wed Jason's son, Darion, because of their difference in age. She expected her hand would be given to Lincoln and was not surprised when it was announced a few days ago.

The only surprise had been how quickly the arrangement had been settled.

Finishing a roll she had plucked up, Zelda left the Dining Hall without saying good-bye. They would either not notice or not care. She strolled through the halls she knew so well. She had some questions for her future-husband... and Zelda was sure he had some for her.


	15. Chapter 15

_(A/D: Holy crap, guys, I'm sorry that it took so long to update but life caught up with me... I've redone this chapter no less than 12 times so I hope you guys enjoy it! I tried to keep some nostalgia in it but... haha, I don't think I quite accomplished that. It is much different than I intended... ah, well, the show goes on!)_

_Review, please!_

* * *

The moon shone down into the section of the Castle that Zelda felt most at home. Her eyes scanned past the rose bushes, grape vines, and other flowers she only knew half the names of. They were pretty and that is all she really cared about.

The sound of music drifted out of the shadows of the gardens and into the Princess' heart. It was a song that she knew well... her Lullaby. The scent of the flora, the stars twinkling above her, and the sudden chilly breeze swept Zelda through the Courtyard and into a scene reminescent of one of her novels.

Link sat with his back pressed against the wall beneath a window constructed so that it peered into the Throne Room. A brown ocarina was pressed to his lips as it tinkled out the melody in crisp, sweet tones and Navi danced to each notes with a gleeful laugh escaping her lips. Flames, to the girl's astonishment, hung in the air... sparking and igniting at the Fae's wish. The boy dared a soft smile as he finished the song and dropped his head back against the cold stone.

"I wonder why that window is there." Navi wondered while taking great, powerful breathes to settle her rapid heartbeat. She missed dancing and had not had the chance to in a while.

Lincoln glanced up and shrugged. "Maybe His Highness just likes the v-" He had spotted her. "-iew." A brow is raised, the boy stood and dusted himself off before giving a leisurely bow. "Princess."

"Call me Zelda, please." She answered, softly, and almost thought she would have to repeat herself when he did not answer.

"Then call me Link." His lips gave an odd quirk, barely noticeable, and yet Zelda did. He was nervous. Lincoln's hand extended to the Faerie floating at his left. "This is Navi. My Partner."

"Hello, Navi," Zelda smiled, hoping to seem friendly. "I would also like you to call me Zelda too... Her Highness or Princess is much to formal." She frowned at her own wording for she realized that she almost forced formality on anyone her age. She would have to learn to speak less stiffly.

Link shifted, tapping his boots against the stone steps, and nodded his head toward Impa who leaned against the wall next to the patio with her eyes shut. Link had reason to believe she was asleep but did not dare test the Shiekah. "Your... Teacher is very talented." A skeptical raise of the brow from Navi and Link knew he had choose a completely offhand topic. He attempted to recover. "S-She, um, taught me a song... on my ocarina."

"So, I heard." Zelda replied with a hint of sarcasm and giggled but clamped her hand over her mouth. "I-I am sorry! I did not mean to be rude!"

"It was not rude." Link clenched and unclenched his fists in uncertainity. He was not sure how one was to act around a Princess and even less around a girl who was going to be his wife in less than two days. "I- Um." The two children stared at one another.

"Yes?" Zelda bit her lip and took a step closer so that Navi's flames fell across her face.

Navi landed on Lincoln's shoulder and jerked at his ear so that he leaned down. Whispering, she spoke. "The Great Deku Tree mentioned the Princess. Ask her. This might be the only time you two are alone in a long-"

"Before the Great Deku Tree died he asked me to bring you the Kokiri Emerald." The words exploded from the ten year old Lord's lips and he seized up at the realization of what he had said.

Zelda gapped at him with confusion. "The Great Deku Tree..." Her violet eyes grew wide as she processed what the boy before her said and she took a deep breath for saying: "He asked you to bring it to _me_?"

Link nodded and Navi slapped her own forehead with a roll of her white eyes. "Yes."

Those violet eyes concentrated in thought and her right, middle finger traced her bottom lip. It was a tick of hers. "Ah..." Zelda met Link's gaze and shivered in the electric shock of it. "Could you... show it to me?"

"Here?" Link frowned. "Would it-"

"Be safe?" Impa's husky voice cut in with a desert dry tone. "You can rest assured, Lincoln, that the eyes which you are afraid of shall not see the Stone."

Navi glared at the Shiekah with clear annoyance. It was no secret she did not trust the Race. "Is that a promise?"

Impa popped one blood, red eye open and smirked. "That is a promise, Little Fae."

"Please, Link." He had not registered the Princess' movement but she was suddenly only a foot away with urgency, excitment, dread, and all other emotions running behind her violet orbs... emotions that blazed in his very own cobalt ones. "I need to see the Stone with my own eyes."

"O-Of course." His hand slipped into a pouch on his belt but paused for a moment. "Can I ask why?"

Zelda nodded and allowed a calm breath to pass her lips. "You may." She walked passed him and ascended the small stairs with measured steps so that she did not trip on the silk cloth of her lavender and white dress. "I have dreams, Link." The ten year old Princess turned so that the window peering into the Throne Room stood behind her. She stood with a strong look... a look of willfullness and a far away look in her eyes. "More often than naught, they come true... with horrible consequences."

Link swallowed, facing her, and fingered at the Kokiri Stone in his pocket. "You see the future?" He frowned with disbelief showing on his young face.

"Yes." She answered with a slightly offended tone. "I would not make up such a lie."

"I did not say you were a li-"

"You doubted me." Zelda brushed wrinkles from her dress to keep her hands from being idle and calmed her accusing tone. "All my life within these walls... walls made for grown Men, I have been treated as nothing more than a mere child." Her violet eyes captured Link's and an understanding passed. "Yet, my dreams are nothing a child should dream... my fears are nothing a child should have knowledge about... and, here, I stand... a child by all rights unready to be a bride to a boy unready to be a groom." Zelda took a deep breath and reached out a pale, white hand. "I need you to trust me, Link, because I need to be able to trust you. A dark wind is blowing... a storm is brewing and Hyrule must prepare."

A storm. His dream. It all rang clear in the boy's mind and he realized that he must trust the strange girl before him. The Great Deku Tree said to take her the Emerald and that she would know and, so, he would trust her. Link pulled the Stone from his pocket and placed into Zelda's outstretched hand. "Tell me about your dream."

Pale fingers glided over the smooth, green, jem and her lips parted with a sigh as the Princess sat on the cold, marble step. "The Castle was empty... but I could feel the chaos, the battle, the death that reeked in the air and the closer I get to the Throne Room the more dense those feelings got. I am struck with such terror that I-I... I just run for the only place that I feel safe." She places the Kokiri Emerald in her lap and leans back onto her hands. "Here... but it is cold, dark but not like it is now... blacker than pitch... sinister, threatening, and I am afraid to enter. The grass is dead, the flowers burned, and everywhere the smell of burning skin hangs thicker than fog."

Link shivered at her words and, although their dreams did not ring the same tune, he felt a familar feeling. Fright. "And the storm?"

Her eyes lept to his and Zelda tried to read the emotion sitting behind his blue eyes but she cannot or rather she was afraid to acknowledge their joined fear. "The rain pours water first as I edge my way to this window." The Princess took a calming breath to stop the race of her heart. "The ground soon grows so wet that my feet begin to sink into the dirt and it is then that I realize the rain is no longer water... but blood."

Navi landed on the stone and crossed her arms over her chest with a concerned face. "Vivid."

The Princess nodded, sadly, and continued. "I drag myself through the mess of water, blood, and dirt before I finally reach the step... and I find myself afraid to turn but something forces me too... tells me that I must face what stands behind me even though I know that it is the very cause for all that had transpired." Her hands shake and clutch at the soft purple of her dress and Zelda hates herself for it. She did not want Link to think her weak. "A-and I look back." Zelda's voice cracked and she closed her violet eyes for she did not want to lose control in front of this odd boy. "Standing in the entrance is a man is black armor with-"

"Fire in his eyes." Link cut in and took Zelda's shaking hand in his. "I have seen those eyes... in my own dreams." He squeezed her hand, lightly, to show her that she is not alone. That neither of them are alone anymore... it had been a compulsion, a sudden reaction, to take her pale fingers in his and the touch had sent electric shocks through him.

She had not dreamed the same as he but she knew what it was like to fear a man you have never met... and he understood that hers had been so much more real than his. She had been stuck with this man, the Gerudo King, since the Treaty was set to sign almost a year ago and Lincoln had been able to carve Ganondorf's image into the monster that killed the Great Deku Tree.

Zelda glanced down at their fingers and smiled a bit at the oddness of it all. "Then he is that same man from your dream as well?"

"I have only ever seen his eyes... I would need to see them in person." Link frowned, blushing a bit as Zelda's hand warmed it. "But it is too much of a coincidence."

Zelda released the hold they had on each other, gently, and wiped away the stray trears trailing down her face. "Ah, so he has not sought out your Father?"

"No... nor have I seen him in the Castle."

Her brows furrow, angrily. "That would because the bastard has hidden himself away-" The sound of a door opening and muffled voices capture Zelda's attention. "Link?" She hands him back the Kokiri Emerald.

"I hear it..." The boy, pocketing the artifact, glanced back towards the window behind him and then back to the ten year old Princess. She brought her finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet, and together they watch Navi land upon the window's ledge.

"I don't see any-"

_"Your Highness, Lord Ganondorf isrequesting an audience with you."_

The children's mouths dropped open and they stared at each other with shocked expressions as Navi's glowing body dims in accordance with not wanting to garner any attention. "Guys!"

Link scrambled to his feet so fast that he nearly stumbled into the wall but he captured himself and instead only his knees slam into the stone. He ignored the pain and glared through the window with his bright, coblat eyes... searching for the man... that man who had plagued his dreams and life of late. The Lordling is barely aware of the quiet breathing of the Princess next to him and she had no more knowledge of him as they wait, intently, for the Gerudo Leader to appear.

"Is he?" King Eric answered though no sign of him in the Room could be seen. Link surmised that his Father is there as well.

"I shall let you tend to him then." Raven's voice confirmed his suspicions. "Or would you rather me remain?"

Edric's voice spoke with strength but by the look on Zelda's face, Link could tell something was wrong. "No, I shall be fine. I have dealt with situations worse than this." A light laugh. "I trust you remember that blasted Volvolgia?"

"The dragon you and I beat to death with the Goron's Hammer?" Lincoln could picture the smile on his father's face. "I would never dare to forget it."

Edric could be heard laughing. "And it is _my_ hammer, now."

"You mean your _stolen _hammer."

"HA-HA!" Edric's beaming face walked into view and the regal man stood before the kids' line of sight though Raven was still not seen. "Darous never cared. If he had he would have told his son, Darunia, to get it from me."

"Darunia is in a foul mood of late... you should be wary of mentioning it lest he takes what is his." Raven's calm, wise voice flowed and Edric turned away from where the Lord must have been standing. "Remember my words, old friend... Do not let this man get into your head."

"I will not." Annoyance was present on the King's face and as he turned to say his good-byes to Raven, Zelda turned to Link. A door closed after a short pause and the children knew that the Lord of White Tower had departed.

"Ganondorf pretends to pledge alligence to my father and, although Father is suspicious, it is hard for him to pass judgement on a man who says he only wishes to help better his People." Zelda whispered, sitting on her knees so that only her eyes peeked through the window.

Lincoln shifted, eyes moving from Zelda's violet orbs to the scene unfolding before him. "He would not be foolish enough to trust him... would he?"

"My Father is many things... but he is no more a Man than he is a King. He is prone to one solid mistake... he trusts too easily." Zelda sighed, also returning her attention to the window. "He trusts Lord Raven in that our wedding shall keep Hyrule safe in the case that Ganondorf dare attacks, he trusts the guards to keep him safe, he trusts that his People will over throw Ganondorf if he does take over, and he trusts that Ganondorf would not be foolish enough to do any of these things that I... that _we_ have witnessed in our dreams..." She opened her mouth to question him but closed it, quickly.

The Lordling could see the curiosity spark in her eyes. "I will tell you about my nightmare, Zelda... later." He frowned at the sound of a door being shut. "But, first-"

He stopped mid-sentence. He cannot speak for his words are robbed of him as the Gerudo man stepped into their view.

Dark olive skin was dressed in a black and brown leather suit adorned with precious jemstones mined or stolen by the Gerudo under his rule. Black paladrones square out the build of a hard worked figure and it was obviously apparent that Ganondorf was no weak fool. He exuded strength even as he gave a low, almost mocking, bow to King Edric Harkinian and his eyes... the very eyes that Lincoln knew so well... stared up with the color of intense flame. Even in the cold walls of Hyrule Castle, Ganondorf radiated Power.

"My Liege, " A deep, baritone voice rattled through the stone room and out into the Courtyard. "I wanted to apologize, in person, for not being present at the Celebration tonight. I was not well as I am sure you were informed."

"I was." Edric was using his King voice. "Though I do not understand why you had to come tell me in such a formal manner. Your message was enough."

The man frowned at that and rose, slowly. "I have other matters to speak of."

"Of course." The King beckoned a servant over and ordered a glass of wine for him and his vistor then returned to the man with a calm but stern demeanor. "What troubles you, Lord Ganondorf?"

The King of Thieves did not tense or show any sign of his strong, prideful aura breaking and spoke, smoothly, though his eyes were raging. "The Treaty."

"That seems to be something everyone is afraid of." Edric sighed, crossing his arms with a frown. "If you show your fear than there will be doubt. Surely you know that?"

Ganondorf seethed, eyes murderous, and he scowled creating savage wrinkles of rage. "I am not _afraid_." He spat the last word with hatred. "I am _offended_ that you would put a frivolous wedding before a Treaty _years_ in the making." The Gerudo Leader surged forward but did not lay a hand on the King though it could be seen in every line of his face that he wished to. "I will not be made into a mockery for your Kingdom! I will not come to make this offer, again, King Edric." He spoke with a serene violence. "My People sit starving in the desert and you prolong their suffering every day that you delay the signing of our negotiations!"

Edric glared but it was not enough to make the powerful man before him back down. The King knew Ganondorf was not a man to be frightened by intimidation but he hoped his words would quell his anger. "The Gerudo fought against Hyrule in the 100 Years War." Zelda's Father accepted the goblet offered to him by the servant and shoved the one for Ganondorf into the olive skinned man's hands. "They are not likely to forget a betrayal of such magnitude-"

The King of Theives downed the drink as Harkinian spoke and cut through with a crude half-laugh. "I did not come here to beg."

"I did not say you were, Sir." The King of Hyrule glared harder and felt the weight of the tension in the room lay upon his shoulders. "The Lords and Ladies of the Court still feel threatened by your People, Lord Ganondorf, and your desire for this Treaty to be over quickly does not settle their woes."

"You are their King!" The black armored, fire eyed man all but screamed. "You rule them, they do not rule you."

His words do not faze the King and Edric spoke with finality. "I rule them as long as they allow me the privellege." Edric sighed, stressfully. "The wedding between my daughter and Lord Lincoln will bring every House in Hyrule to the Castle where you shall show that your People are not the savages that everyone believes they are." The King bored his eyes into those pits of fire set in Ganondorf's skull and did not waver though he felt fear rise in his chest. "Bring Naburoo, you trust her and so shall I. She will set a good example for your People and to mine." Edric drained the last of his wine and broke their eye contact. "You have waited years for this Treaty to become finale so I believe you shall be able to wait another two days. Good night."

And with that King Edric Harkinian left Lord Ganondorf of the Gerudo to the echo of a slammed door.

Lincoln held his breath in the silence that followed as he spied on the one he knew to have been the one to murder the Great Deku Tree. Navi crept onto Link's shoulder and sat with her hands burrowed in his tunic in case he moved. "So, we all agree this is the bad guy?"

At the sound of her voice or perhaps the feeling of being watched, Ganondorf's head snapped to the side with the most malicious of faces. His red eyes glowed and seemed to leap alive with anger.

"_Hey_!"

In a blink of an eye, Zelda had Navi wrapped in her dress and was pressed against the wall to the side of the ornate window. "Shh, he's coming." The Princess whispered, emotions too scattered across her face to read.

Link dropped to the ground beneath the glass pane and prayed that they would not be seen.

"Princess?" The deep baritone of the Gerudo's Leader called out and his visage appeared so close that his breath fogged up the glass.

Zelda pressed her free hand to her pounding heart and closed her eyes to join Link in prayer. He knew she spied on him... she had thought she had been so careful... tears formed beneath her dark lashes and the Princess of Hyrule let them fall.

"It is rude to spy, Little Princess." Ganondorf laughed then. "Next time I catch you, you better hope your Shiekah is with you." His dark aura moved away and the sound of his footsteps faded until a door opened. "Or that she is as fast as I am lead to believe she is!" And closed.

Link released a breath he had not know he was holding and dropped his head back to lay on the cold stone of the Courtyard's patio. "He _is _the man from my dream."

_"Let me outta here!"_

Zelda released Navi from the confines of her dress and slid down the wall before ripping off her headpiece. Locks of gold rushed past her shoulders in shoulder length waves that hid her face from the boy's view. "He knows." Her fingers brushed through her hair and she covered her mouth with one hand to stop her lips from quivering. "Oh, Nayru, he _knows._"

Link leaned up on his elbows and stared at the Princess with uncertainity. "Zelda...?" Lincoln sat up and took the girl's hand between both of his own. "Zelda, he was just trying to scare you." He smiled at her, reassuringly. "And even if he meant it, he cannot hurt you... Impa will not let him... and... and neither will I." An odd feeling took his heart then and Link spoke with a stronger tone. "I promise."

"No one can promise that." Zelda's violet eyes blinked away the crystal drops as her head dropped back and laid against the stone wall.

"I do not promise, Zelda Marie." Impa had appeared at the girl's side and stood more still than a staute with a look borderlining on feral. "I have made a _vow_ that no one shall harm you and I do not care if this man obtains the Triforce; he shall never touch you." Impa reached down and jerked the child's pale, beautiful face toward her and glared. "Do. You. Understand?"

Impa loved her, Zelda knew, and although the Shiekah was not always harsh... the hugs were rare and the Princess took this treatment as maternal love rather than forcefulness. "I understand."

The Shiekah gave a short, but soft, smile before wiping the girl's tears away and taking a step back into the shadows. "Good."

It was several minutes before anyone spoke, again. The children sat with their hands intertwined, Navi sat where their knees touched, and Impa hid herself in the shadows with dark thoughts of murder.

Link..." Zelda's voice was barely a whisper. "I want to tell you a story."

The Lordling turned toward the girl and rose a brow. "About...?"

"The very thing that I believe Ganondorf is here for... you see..., I have seen the books he reads in the library and I have watched him search all over the Palace Grounds." Zelda reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear with a sad look upon her face. "You have been taught the story of Hyrule's Creation, yes?"

Link nodded with a puzzled expression. "Of course... The Great Deku Tree told me when I was younger." His bright cobalt eyes closed as he recited the tale from memory. "Din created the red earth with Her flaming arms, Farore dressed in the land in green to give the world life, and Nayru incited justice, order and colored the sky. When Their labors were completed, They left the world behind and along with it the Triforce."

"Good... but, Link... there is _more_."


	16. Chapter 16

"There is... more?" Lincoln crossed his arms over his chest as he walked with the Princess side by side through the garden. The flowers and stars melted into a beautiful atmosphere under the bright moonlight but there was a chill in the air that did not settle right with the boy. He surmised it was because of the Ganondorf's icy words... and something to do with what he was about to hear.

Zelda pressed her lips together and nodded, softly. "Yes... but, Link, you must promise me that you will not speak of this to a soul. _No one_." Her violet eyes held his and her heart drummed in her chest with dangerous speed. "We are to be... family soon and-." Her pale hands rose to where she could feel her fear and hope beat. "Family is precious to me."

"You have my word." Lincoln's voice was serious as he spoke an oath few men uttered in their life. "By the Three and Hylia's Grave."

Navi brushed her fingers through her blue hair and fought the urge to break through the tense situation. She remained silent and settled to watching Impa's shadow dance after the children as they walked.

"Hylia? Your family still swears to Her?" Zelda's eyes lit up but, before Link could answer, Impa's blood red eyes shoulder the girl's curiosity away. "Bu-But, o-on to the point..."

"The Hudsons have a small shrine dedicated to Her and few other minor Gods." Navi smirked, hand cupping her cheek as she leaned forward on her knees. She was cradled in Link's crossed arms at that moment though she never stayed in one place for long. "He also enjoys reading all the Legend he can..."

"That is something we have in common..." Zelda blushed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her pointed ear. "So, now, let me share my favorite Legend of all." Her fingers bunched into the silk softness of her gown and lifted it up as she stepped up to the cresecent pond that surround the whole Courtyard. "The Legend of Creation has been passed through many generations of the Royal Family... and although the Crown has changed hands, this story has never faltered." Her tiny heels slipped off of her feet and where kicked to the side as the Princess sat down to deep her pale toes in the cold water. "The Goddesses, immortal and everlasting, where alone in the Begining of All Things... and so Din created the Earth for them to live for They tired of traveling the cosmos."

Link sat next to the girl, carefully listening to her story, and leaned back on his hands. "I know the begining, Zelda.."

She blushed, brightly, then. "I... am not good at telling stories." Zelda bit her bottom lip and laughed, softly. "So I always have to tell them from the start."

"Please, continue then."

The Princess of Hyrule gave a short nod and smiled. "But They grew lonely and sick of just speaking to one another. Farore, our Green Mother, then loved a Star and gave birth to new Gods... Her Highness, Hylia, amoung them, but Din and Nayru could not have children and this grieved Their hearts so that nothing Farore did would ease Their pain." Ripples spread across the water where Zelda kicked her feet and Link found himself watching the little waves as her voice rose over the garden. "The Sun went to Farore and told Her that he could give Her as many sons and daughters as She wanted but only if he could be the first to kiss their face each morning and before they went to bed. The Green Goddess agreed to this and brought the First Men to Her Sisters on Earth... from which we all descend. For a long time, the Goddesses where happy and watched Man thrive."

Navi smiled at the familiarity of the story, more in depth than what she was used to, and closed her eyes to enjoy it.

"Ah, but Nayru noticed something troubling. Her adopted children were jealous creatures, full of savage emotion, and Nayru saw rape, murder, thieves, and hatred... and in rage, She flew across the sky and, such was the power of Her Law, it stained the blue of Her skin. Nayru brought order, peace, and justice; Din taught Men honor, passion, and skill; and Farore gifted us with knowledge of medicine to fight Death, a plethora of animals to do with as we pleased, and forests to shade us for when Father Sun's love burned to bright... the Goddesses were happy for the first time in all Their exsistence but sought a long sleep. The God named Death, Farore's first son, told Them he had built a hall where his Mothers could rest... and where all Men will go when they too find final peace." Zelda took a deep breath and shuddered at a brief memory of her dying Mother, the Queen. This part of the story always reminded her of that time. The Princess withdrew her feet from the moat and continued, softly. "The Goddesses praised Death for his idea and soon readied Themselves for well deserved rest. They bid farewell to Their children and shot to the skies in a golden rays of light... Light that fell to the ground where the Goddesses had departed... Light that formed the Sacred Power._ The Triforce_."

Those two words rung above the children, the Fae, and the Shiekah but Zelda did not wait long before she resumed the Legend, again.

"The whole World felt the loss of the Three and it was not until the lower Goddess, Hylia, discovered the Triforce that the earth smiled again. Hylia ordered a temple to be built... a sacred place to hid away the Triforce so that no man may obtain it unless he is worthy..." Zelda glanced over at the Lordling next to her and she smiled, slyly. "That place is The Temple of Time."

"Wha- You mean... The..." Link's eyes bulged in his sockets as he gapped at the Princess. "The Temple of Time?! I passed that place on the way here!" He turned to Navi and she merely smirked at him. "You knew!"

Navi rolled her eyes. "Of course, I knew." She laughed. "Faeries were born from the excess of magick left over from the Goddess' essence... well, what was left after the Triforce. We are almost intune to it." She beamed at him then as if this he should have known this information. It made him want to hit her... which he did not do merely because Zelda was present.

"If the Triforce... is at the Temple... then why has no one claimed it?" Link frowned, the question dawning on him as Impa stepped from the shadows and walked toward them.

"It is protected by a large door; The Door of Time." Zelda's eyes glided to Impa's form but returned to Link's face. "You see, the Triforce is not on this physical plane. It is secured away in the Sacred Realm... which is the exact spot the Triforce touched down... it warped the world there with its power and it is, virtually, a heaven of sorts... The Door will not open for just anyone. There are keys..."

"The Spiritual Stones." Link fingered at the Kokiri Emerald in his pocket and, suddenly, felt how very heavy its burden was.

"You catch on quick, Link." Zelda smiled, brilliantly, at him but turned to her guardian when Impa finally arrived at her side. "Yes?"

"If I do not get you and Lincoln to bed then the Court will start to flicker their tongues." Impa's face snarled at the word 'court' which neither Link nor Zelda could blame her for. "If you do not finish the tale by the time we leave the Courtyard then you will finish it tomorrow."

Zelda, understand she had no other option, stood and held out her hand for Link but blushed when she realized that this was not proper for a lady. To her surprise, he allowed her to help pull him up. "I hope I did not offend you..." She blushed, ignoring the look the Shiekah was giving her for not rushing through the rest of the Legend.

Link smirked, finding her blush looked pretty on her. "You did not." He blushed himself when she blushed deeper. He squeezed her hand, softly, before letting it drop and speaking, again. "How do you open the Door of Time, Zelda?"

"The Spiritual Stones are one part of the key... they are the symbols that the other Races trust the man or woman to enter the Door to retrieve the Triforce... where..." She took a deep breath and exhaled, quickly. "The Royal Family, and by association the Hylians, have the Ocarina of Time to show they give their permission as well."

Link frowned then. "Has... _he_ approached the King about the Ocarina?"

Zelda winked at the Lordling then. "Father does not have the Ocarina..."

Navi burst out with a glee filled 'whoop'. "That's genius!"

"I thought so too!" Zelda's face lit up with pride. "The Ocarina is one of my family's most prized possession and it took some before my Father entrusted it to me... but now Ganondorf shall never get it!" As soon as the joy had come, sadness engulfed the lovely girl's expression. "I wish I could say the same for the Spiritual Stones... the other two are protected by the Goron and Zora but... they have been silent. We have heard no word from either of our allies."

Silence followed their footsteps as the children dwelled on the dark thoughts Zelda's revelation had created in their minds. The entrance into the Castle loomed ahead... and, suddenly, the answer to their predicament came to Link.

"I will go and retrieve them."

Zelda stopped in her tracks and stared, wide eyed, at the boy. "Wh-What?"

"_WHAT?!_" Navi exclaimed, her blue glow turning several different colors at once.

Link dodge around his partner and took Zelda's hand in his then spoke with a voice that hit harder than King Edric's Megaton Hammer. "I will go and get the rest of the Stones." His heart beat louder than war drums but something... felt right about it. "I believe you, Zelda, and I want to h-"

Her lips were soft against his.

It was a quick kiss, lighter than a bird's feather, but... it ignited something in that moment that left the boy breathless.

His face burned and somewhere behind him Navi was flickering the colors of the rainbow. Impa just rose a brow... but all Link cared about in that moment were the tears streaming down the face of Princess Zelda. She was crying out of joy.

"I will protect the Ocarina within every facet of my power... by the Three and Hylia's grave." Zelda wiped away the crystal rivers pouring down her cheeks. "I should not have kissed you but you-"

"D-Don't apologize." Link swallowed and smiled. "I..." Both children just beamed at one another.

Impa cleared her throat. "Children... we need to go. Now."

Link held out his hand and was pleased when Zelda took it. Navi landed on where their hands were woven together and sat there. "Well... this is going to be fun to explain to your Father."

* * *

A/N: Guys, I am soooo sorry this took so long to post. I was trying to make Zelda's story as least confusing as possible... I hope I accomplished that. Plus, I am trying to plot out the next few chapters to make sure everything lines up like how I need it too. :) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll try and get the next one done as soon as possible...

If you'd like two read two little one-shots that I wrote for Joanna and Brienne then you can find them here:

gallery/#/d5kc107 - Joanna

gallery/#/d5kc1ty - Brienne

I think there are a few stories that I haven't put on but I am not sure. :)

Much love,

Queaky

Nintendo owns... :C


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I really suck at this updating thing. *head to desk*

Alright so I hope this chapter transitions well... I have read it over a few times and I think does... haha, so I'll let you all get on to reading! :)

* * *

Silence in the orangle glow of the few torches left glowing within the castle. Link was not sure if it was truly as late as he was led to believe or whether Impa really hated light as much as he thought.

He was too tired to think and settled himself into a comfortable day dreaming pace... that was shredded as the Shiekah to his left pounced.

Impa pressed the boy against the wall just before his bedroom with the aura of murder glowing about her. "Now, Little Lord, I should not have to express how very important it is to keep that oath you swore to the Princess." Her crimson eyes tore holes through his blue ones and ripped past his exhaustion straight to his heart. Where fear screamed out like a newborn babe.

Navi appeared just between the five inch gap between their faces and turned a menacing yellow. "No. You don't." Her voice, to her partner's suprise, was colder than the harshest winter atop White Tower's tallest spire. "Should I explain how Fae magick works or give you a lesson?" Navi's color reverted back to its normal sky blue tint when Impa stood straight though looking just as stoic as before. "Now, if we are all finished here, I bid you good-night."

Impa did not answer. She was already gone as Link blinked his tired cobalt eyes.

Running on the fumes, he stumbled around toward the door. "Thanks, Navi." He mumbled, rubbing away the sleepiness invading his vision. The doorknob was cold in his grasp but he was thankful when the heat of a raging fireplace hit his face. Lincoln made a mental note to ask the name of the servant that had done this favor for him... but as soon as he had ripped off his clothes to change... he realized that he was not alone.

Raven Hudson sat halfway in a large armchair next to his son's bed with one arm failing at holding his head up while the other held a dark, red, empty bottle. The old Lord was drooling, a sight amusing at any other time except when Link was naked, and emitting soft snoring sounds which were rectifed when Navi titled the man's head back into a more comfortable position.

"Is... he okay?" Navi asked, brows crinkled together with worry while she sat with her back turned to the ten year old. "I've never seen him like this before..."

In soft, cotton pants and tucked under his bundle of covers, the lordling shrugged with indifference. "Mother mentioned, once," He yawned. "that he and Edric like to drink together... but," He yawned, again, and laid back into his pillow. "I've only seen him..." His eyes closed. "drunk once." The "c" hissed between his teeth as he drifted off into slumber.

Navi smirked, crossing the room to brush off the strands of hair on her charge's face, and pressed a soft kiss to her friend's forehead. "We'll talk in the morning."

"Navi?"

"Yes, Link?"

"I kissed a girl." A goofy, completely dumb smile crossed Link's face at that moment and he looked for all the world his age.

Navi giggled, snapped her fingers, and appeared in a silk nightgown. "_Correction_, she kissed you." She pulled open the drawer next to the bed, a beautiful piece of furniture with new details emerging every glance, and tucked herself away into the warm confines of the hat Saria made the boy. Sleep evaded her for sometime as she thought about the tasks ahead of her and Link in the next few days but, mercifully, the Goddess of Dreams allowed her rest.

Waking with the morning, Navi got up and prepared herself for the day while making sure to keep an eye on the two Hudsons. When she was finished, the barefoot Fae landed on the plush arm of Raven's chair and peered up into the man's face. He was sleeping soundly, he had not tossed or turned during the night, but Navi could see the lines of worry burrowed in the sixty year old's face. The Sun shone his warm face across the horizon and spilled into the room with a brightness that Navi was not ready for. She shielded her eyes and sighed. "The day has started... suppose I should wake them up."

Her right hand tingled with the usual numb-like sensation prevelant when conjuring magick and, at the exact moment it was ready to fire, she pressed that hand against Raven's knee... literally, shocking him to life. The old Lord jumped, eyes shooting wide open, and glared at the Fae.

"Was that nesacarry?"

Navi giggled. "You expected _me_ to shake you?"

"Ah-haha, no... I would expect _you_ to shout." Raven chuckled and scratched at his newly shaven face that bore traces of new grey-black hair. His grey-blue eyes were red and pain pulsed behind them; a sickness brought on by his hangover from his previous encounter with King Edric's wine stores. "Ahhh, I hope I did not snore to loud..."

"You slept like a baby." Navi smiled, flicked her wrist and levitated a nearby bowl of cold water toward them. "You'll feel better if you wash your face, you know."

"As always, sweet Fae, you are right." Raven smiled, softly, and took the girl's advice by vigorously scrubbing his face with his hands before drying off with an offered towel. "You've been taking such good care of us, Navi... you'll continue to do this for our boy... won't you?" His voice, usually so strong and noble, was weak and shakey.

The Faerie blinked and nodded. "O-Of course. I would never abandon him." She lept into the air, gracefully, and sailed in a large backward arc onto Lincoln's bed. A nagging question snapped at the back of her mind and Navi found that she had to know. A few more minutes of sleep would not harm Link. "Milord... why were you in his room last night?"

"He... is my son." Raven's voice was thick with emotion and his face was hidden behind the cloth of the towel used to dry his face. The Lord of White Tower collapsed, slowly, back into his chair and sighed, agonizingly. "But, he shall not be-" The old man cleared his threat and swallowed. "Not be mine... soon."

"He shall always be y-"

"He'll need good..." And then she saw them... the tears. They were rolling down the old Lord's face in silence as he spoke. "He'll need good friends here, Navi. I-I am afraid I have signed-" Raven choked and drew his face away from the winged girl no bigger than his fist. "Signed him up for a dismal fate."

"Lord Raven?" Navi stammered but found she had no words to say. She was much too shocked to say anything of consolation as the man cried. Raven Hudson had never cried in her presence and nor had she ever heard of any such stories... even when his children where born...

"The day he was first placed in my arms... he melted away my whole world and put it right back together... I never thought I would have another child, never thought I would wed again... be this happy. That boy, my Lincoln, brought a light- A bright and glowing light that took away all my fears of dying a lonely, bitter man... and I have loved him so much... kept him at my side and kept him away from other children... because I did not want to part from him." Raven sobbed, pressing his hands into his face and shaking. "Evangeline will hate me for taking her son away... for shoving him into a marriage wrecked with war and danger..."

"Raven, c-calm down." Navi glanced backwards and noticed that Link's calm breathing had become irregular... he was trying to pretend he was asleep. He was awake! "Lincoln i-"

"I cannot have my son hate me, Navi!" Raven's eyes were swollen and the grey-blue color almost seemed white amoungst the angry red from his tears. The wrinkles on his face looked all the deeper as his face contorted into the sorrowful agony of a father with a broken heart. "There is so much that I never told him! He will hate me even more when he finds out." After that... no more words came... just tears... tears and sobbing.

"Finds out...what?" Navi questioned, squeezing Link's shoulder as best she could. She does not recieve a answer she can understand and does not even try to make out what he means between the moans of hurt. She leaned down toward Link and whispered. "Lie still. The drink has made him... unlike himself. He is probably delusional... I am going to take him to his room." The Faerie turned then and clapped her hands together, inhaling all the air her lungs could hold, then rose into the air. A green flame sparked to life between her hands and Navi released the breath she was holding into it... "Lord Raven Hudson," Her voice was etheral and an everlasting echo followed it as grey-blue eyes were captured in the magick. "I call you to my side... and bid you to follow me... follow me..." The door flung open and a servant stepped in but remained silent. "Follow me."

The servant rose a brow, keeping herself composed, and allowed the two to pass without commenting on the dead eyed look in the Lord's eye. She was fat in the face, red splotches all over her cheeks, but seemed the type to be cheery. "G'mornin', wee Prince, it's time to get up!" Her accent oddly mixed and, in his state of mind, Link found himself having a hard time understanding her. "I was sent ta fetch cha and 'ere 'Ah am.

Lincoln pulled his blankets tighter to his body and buried his face into his pillow. "Just a bit longer, pl-" The covers were ripped from his grasp and the cold, dankness of Hyrule Castle seeped into his bones. "ease." He wanted time to think. He had not even a moment to digest what his father could have possibly hidden from him that would make Link hate him.

"Now, now, m'lord. 'Ah was told to come get ya 'n bring yer lordly butt to da King... 'n ya wouln't want to be late for dat... would ya?

Link groaned into his pillow and prepared himself for a fight. This was going to be a long day.

Zelda huffed, tucking in her golden hair back into the headache inducing bun she currently had it in, and turned her violet eyes toward the sound reminescent of diamond scraping on glass.

"Have you been fitted for your dress?" Lady Goldmine, daintly plucking at her food, pressed her lips together and fluttered her eyelashes at the Princess, expectantly.

The Princess sat proper in her chair, right side to the King's, and wiped her mouth, neatly, before speaking. She allowed a soft smile spread across her pink lips and prepared her barbs to offend and kill the conversation. "_I_ do not have to be _fitted_ for my dress." Zelda allowed the briefest of pauses before the final strike. "_I_ am the _Princess_. I do not have the time to sit about while some old," She did not break her facade as she inwardly cringed at the next word. "hag nips and tucks away. _I_ am to be _Queen_ and have my education to see to." Her napkin was folded as she was taught and placed above her plate which signaled for the servants to clear it away. "I am sure you knew that, Lady Venessa, for your daughter must never have the time for such trivial things." Zelda's violet eyes saw the wince Lady Goldmine made at that particular barb.

Goldmine's daughter was known for being quite the shopper and never hesitated to spend rupees on a new dress. The woman played the ten year old's jab off well and merely cracked a clench jawed smile. "Of course." The Lady turned without delay and leaped into another conversation that Zelda had no interest in.

A servant appeared and took the child's plate as she tuned into her Father's conversation with Jason Hudson.

"Despite all of the... shall we say, troubles? I would daresay that you look in better spirits this morning." Edric smiled and winked at Lincoln as the boy entered wearing his black colors. "I have heard you and your brother were at odds."

"He is but a child." Jason's green orbs focused into Link's colbat ones and he placed his meaty hand on his youngest sibling's shoulder. "But _I_ should have more patience with him than I do... but no matter how angry I get at him. He knows I would _die_ for him." Jason gave a soft squeeze and Link beamed at him. They did not need a heart to heart... they were siblings, siblings fought and forgave.

"You are a good brother, then." Edric chuckled. "And," The King smirked at the Lordling wiping sand from his eyes. "Young Link! I am glad you deicded to join us!"

Link blushed and shrugged, groggily. "I am sorry, My Li-"

"Call me Edric... or Father. Either one."

The boy inwardly cursed the King for garnering so much attention toward him while he was not fully awake but nodded. "Edric, then. Accept my apologies for being late... I..." He read Zelda's eyes in that moment and knew to lie. "Did not sleep well."

"With the things you have been through, Young One, I would not blame you." Edric gestured to the seat next to Jason which was occupied by the snotty, Reginald Horus. "My Lord, would you take another chair? I need to speak with my soon to be Son-In-Law."

A brief sneer but the man complied with little heistation. Link took the seat and thanked the man who brought him a plate. "What did you wish to speak to me about, S- Edric?"

"We have all of this day, the next, and then upon that next morning... you shall be my new son... I want to gift you something but, because I do not know you well enough, I have not the slightest clue what." The King summoned a new cup of wine and sipped at it. "You are remarkable with the sword, or so I am told, but the blade you have cannot be replace... it is the Kokiri Sword, is it not?"

Link swallowed his mouthful of eggs almost whole and shot a playful glare at the Princess who giggled at his attempt of doing so. "Yes... perhaps a shield?"

"A shield?" The King laughed. "There are millions of shields in the Kingdom, Son. Pick something more challenging! I like a good hunt."

"Hunt?" Jason choked on his own drink.

Edric rolled his eyes and slapped the Lord on the back. "I am King but I still enjoy shopping."

"Shopping, my friend? Is that not for the lady folk?" Raven's voice cut in with a humorous air that did not tickle at Link's funny bone. His Father's words still haunted him.

"AHAHAHAHA, I should have your head for that!"

"You should have had my head years ago." Raven gave a short bow to the King before going to stand between his two sons. "I am sorry I was late." Old withered, but strong, fingers squeezed at Link's shoulder... it was meant as a reassurance but Link felt none of its effects.

"Aye, I should have." Edric watched his goblet fill with eager eyes and allowed his plate to be cleared. "Now, be silent you fool." The King spoke in a half-laugh. "Your boy was just telling me what he wants as a gift."

"Father," Zelda's voice was quiet but it rang through the Hall which annoyed her greatly though she did not let that stall her. "you know, it is not custom for one to buy presents for the bride and groom, individually."

Edric gave his daughter an endearing smile then shot a glare toward the cast of Lords and Ladies eavesdropping. This did not stop them but it forced the sounds of cheap chatter and, when he saw Link's face relax more, he took a gulp of wine rather than pat himself on the back. "Sweetling, sometimes it does the heart good to break custom... and," He laughed."_I am King_."

"Your daughter is right, Sire." Lord Horus injected his voice into the conversation. "It might bring a bad o-"

"I moved you, Reginald, because this was to be a conversation between the Royal Family." A cold tone rolled from the King's lips and his brown eyes appeared almost like hot coals. "Do keep in mind that you are not apart of my Family."

Horus swallowed and gave a single nod. "Aye, Sire."

"Now... back to me being King-"

King... That word, that name, that title... sparked something in Link at that exact moment. His mouth dropped open, his heart sky rocheted into his chest, and his stomach clenched.

He knew what he had to do to help Zelda protect the Triforce.

But, Goddesses be Good, he knew his family would not like it.

"-and wanting to buy my Son-In-Law a gift."

"Perhaps you can give him a day to think it over?" Raven asked, stealing a piece of a roll from Lincoln's plate.

"No..." Link heard himself say. "I know what I want."

It was then that everything happened in slow motion...

Jason waved to Rowan and Thomas as the two Hudsons entered with dumb smiles on their faces... a looming shadow slid into the room... and the King turned toward the boy with coblat eyes.

"And that is?"

"Give me... give me leave, Father King, to go and visit the Gorons and Zora... to extend an invitation personally." Link swallowed and wondered at the strength in his own voice even as his heart hammered in his chest. "Unite the Kingdom... and show our enemies that we are One."

It was then that Lincoln Hudson made eye contact with a seething Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo.

_And show our enemies... that we are One._

Those words hung in the air for a long time as the Court of Hyrule stared at that boy with courage raging behind his eyes.

* * *

*Gasp!* So, its nothing like the game or the manga really anymore... which is really weird because, when I first wrote the idea down, that is what I wanted. I like it better this way because I always wanted a realistic Zelda game... though everytime I play a new LOZ title I just fall in love with the whole whimsy of it.

Although, Zelda does have a dark side... Like Hyrule is flooded in WW (thats a lot of dead people, plus Ganon's sad story. :C), TP is just dark in whole, MM... same, and Skyward Sword had its morbid elements too. :D So, I'll forever be completely okay with that system.

BUT, this *is* what Zelda would be in my hands. I like depth in my characters and I want to show the stages each of them go through or at least some of what lies beneath their surface. Not all of them will get this treatment as I have my cast of main characters but I hope make a few of fall in love with some of the addtional people.

Like Thomas.

Thomas is my favorite brother.

Ramble: end.

Review and tell me what you think! Please! ;)

-Queaky


	18. Chapter 18

(A/N: What's this?! Another chapter in the same week!?

Ah, but it is nothing of true substance, sadly. It is pretty choppy... I really hate this one. It feels empty. Meh.

The next one will be better, I promise! :) )

Thanks to lagenerala ( u/889175/)

And Ribke D'Crazy ( u/2194602/ )

For the quick reviews of the last chapter! :) Ya'll are awesome! :D

Much love and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! :) If you do not celebrate it then I hope you have a fantastic week! :)

-Q

* * *

It had all happened so fast... he was yanked up by his Father, thrown into a nearby room while the sounds of the Court screamed nearby, and even though Link knew that all Seven Layers of Din's Hell was about to break loose upon his head... all he could think about were those eyes.

Hot coal, golden, red eyes... colder than a Freezard's breath.

Navi was no where to be found... Link guessed she was probably napping somewhere as magick use drained her.

He wished she was here.

"That was brave."

It was Impa. "I am begining to think it is going to be fatal..." Link murmured, staring into the fireplace where no fire raged. It was dark inside and the boy could only guess that it was a meeting chamber though he was not sure. "Are you here to kill me?" He asked, more serious than he actually meant.

"Kill you?" She chuckled and appeared at his side like a shadow in sudden pale, white light. "I threatened you last night to show the severity of what was told." Impa's grasp was like that of a man's but it soothed him like a mother's embrace. "As for what just transpired... that was a work of genius."

"Hmph." Lincoln snorted air from his nose and buried his face into his arms which lay atop his drawn up knees.

After igniting a fire, Impa tucked her hands beneath the child's armpits and hefted him into a nearby couch. She actually smiled at his bewildered expression. "You see what I did there, Lincoln?"

"You threw me!"

"That is the action, yes, but the result, Dear Boy, was that I shocked you. Shocked you so very much that you had no time to think or react in any proper way... if I had told you that I was going to throw you then perhaps you could have fought back." Impa's hands moved as she spoke and Link could tell she was in a more relaxed state then when on duty. He wondered why she was not with Zelda but surmised the Princess was probably confined to her room until the fiasco blew over.

"And that pertains to the situatio-OW!" He grabbed the side of his head where the Sheikah's hand had clapped him and glared. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Watch your tongue." Impa smirked. "Now." The warmth danced through the chilly castle air and lifted some of the Lordling's spirit as the woman continued with her odd way of cheering him up. "You proposed a radical idea in front of the _main_ Court. King Edric will have to answer to why he did not do such a thing before, and then when he calms down all the Lords and Ladies... he shall have to talk your Father into allowing you to do so. It appears to be a simple task, but, it is not." Impa turned her body so that she fully faced Link and cupped his face so that he stared into her crimson eyes. "We have had no contact with either Goron or Zora before the Great Deku Tree's death."

Link's eyes bulged. "That... means..."

"He approached them first." Impa nodded. "The question is whether he has their treasures... he has not attacked you or come for you so I do not believe he knows you have possession of the Emerald."

"How will we figure that out?"

Impa chuckled. "Ask the Leaders while you are there."

"Would it be wise to bring them all together... _if_ he does not have them?" Lincoln sighed, running his fingers through his hair and appearing more frustrated than any boy of ten should. "I mean how am I going to convince Darunia and King Zora to just- Just HAND over their most prized possessions!?" He jumped up and drew closer to the flames in hopes that the heat would soothe his woes. It did not... and he longed for Navi's guidance. "Ganondorf- My brother... Rowan... said he thinks that Ganondorf is using Dark Magick..."

"I have heard similar reports from my Sisters." Impa's stoic expression returned but her gaze did not harden all the way. "The Princess' dreams are never wrong... and I do not believe in coincidences, Lordling. It is all too suspicious... too dangerous. Something must be done... and for some unknown reason..." He felt her behind him before he felt her hands grasp his shoulders and her presence gave him a different kind of strength... "You were Chosen. Just know, My Lord, that I stand behind you and offer you my sword."

She believed in him.

Zelda believed in him.

They did not view him as some boy who knew how to twirl a sword. He knew his family loved him and were proud but this was different...

And it solidified something in him. He could feel it break out... something fierce, feral, proud... like a lion.

Courage.

And as the door opened, revealing an angry Raven Hudson and an almost approving King Edric... the lion bared his fangs.

And roared.

The handsome red haired, green eyed Sir Rowan Hudson sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. Politics and how the Court viewed people never interested him... hence, why he had become a Knight. He had been taught, of course, because he was Raven's second son but, when he had taken up the cloak of the Realm, he forfeited his claim.

Thomas, the third son, had almost followed Rowan's direct footsteps but had elected not to take up the trails presented to those who wished to be a Knight of the Realm. The brown haired, sun burnt face, and brown eyed man had his fingers laced together with his elbows on the table that made him look as if he was praying. His shoulder length hair was pulled back and Rowan could see from the angle he had that Thomas was not praying... he was sleeping.

The room was silent.

It had been like the scene from a memory in Rowan's mind.

When Raven told the family that he was going to marry Evangeline... it had not been an easy thing for everyone to accept. They all loved Evie but to imagine his Father possibly having another child at fifty years was distrubing to everyone except Myra. Rowan had called his father selfish... told him that if he brought a babe into the world and died then that child would be scarred. Left with a hole in their heart where a father should have been.

Then... then, Rowan held Lincoln in his hands. That sickly looking child screamed louder than any healthy newborn Rowan had ever heard. That sound enstilled love and a fierce need to protect. Rowan vowed to be there for his brother no matter if he had to give up his cloak. Which is why he sat and sufffered in that exact room.

"You are _not_ going, Lincoln." Raven growled, grey-blue eyes glaring into Edric's.

The King frowned. "That matter is no longer up to you, my friend." The seriousness in his voice issued a finality to the argument. "He forced my hand by requesting this of me in front of the Court-"

"Damn the Court!"

"Raven." Edric almost chastised his friend and leaned back into the uncomfortable wooden chair he was seated in then sighed. "He _is_ going to go. My daughter and your son have made nothing but valid points through out this entire discussion."

Zelda and Link were seated on the couch in front of the fire, silent, with Impa. They were drinking an herbal tea for both were hoarse from shouting though the drink did little for their nerves.

Raven remained silent and turned away.

"Father... Link has shown he is a proven warrior and this would do well for him when he is King." Jason gestured to his littlest brother with exhaustion in his bones. "You have said that many times now!It is time we had faith in him."

"He is ten."

"Then you send an escourt." Rowan rolled his eyes and threw himself away from the table in frustration. "I understand that he is your last child, your last baby... no offence, Link," A hand waved from the couch in Rowan's general direction as if to say it was okay. "but you cannot coddle him to you. It would hurt his image and make everyone believe you have gone soft." His green eyes penetrated Raven's own. "_And. That. Cannot. Happen._ Not now."

He saw the final barrier in Raven give.

"We'll go with him if given leave by his Majesty." All eyes went to Thomas who sat in the exact same position he had been in the last hour. His brown eyes popped open and his fingers unraveled to reveal a smirk. "He will have perfectlly skilled Knights, of which are kin, and shall not have an entourage to make it look like a mini invasion."

King Edric chuckled, low, and nodded. "Leave is granted, Sir Thomas, and to you as well, Sir Rowan, if you choose to take up this task."

"I do."

"It is decided then." Edric stood and gave Raven a apologetic look before returned with a stern, leader-like expression. "Prepared yourselves. You leave at Dawn tomorrow. I grant you a week to complete these task and return." A pause. "Now, let us all go see how many hours we have wasted away."

Zelda dropped her head back as the adults left them alone, Raven's eyes lingering just a few moments more on his son, and sighed. "At least we do not have to wear those itchy wedding outfits."

Link turned his head toward the Princess and held up his cup of tea. "To us?"

"To us." Zelda laughed, clinking their drinks together.

Navi sat with her legs crossed ontop of a gold hand mirror and stared down into her reflection. She had just gotten up from her nap and was finishing tying her top about her neck. The outfit was a single piece called a ''jumpsuit'' which Navi thought was a silly name but, because it reminded her of Saria, she had decided to wear it. It was light blue and was just a few shades darker than her actual skin tone.

A knock rapped three times. "Are you asleep?" It was Link. They had not seen each other since earlier that morning and it was close to 3 o'clock. She hated sleeping late but she needed to regain her strength... she had been feeling weak already but the nap helped relieve some of stress on her tiny body.

"No... come in." She heard the door open, heard his footsteps, and heard him collapse onto the bed. Her white eyes scanned the room and found him with both his arms draped over the eyes she had so grown to adore. Navi stood and latched a woven belt around her hip that was made from Skullata silk. "Link...?"

"Hm?"

Navi smirked, crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes. "I heard about what happened."

"Do you hate me yet?" The boy asked with some humor to his voice though it was saturated with exhaustion. "I make a pretty lousy partner."

The Faerie stepped off the desk her mirror resided on and floated over to where the boy lay. "You haven't killed us yet." She sat on his chest, just a few inches below his chin, and watched a smile spread across his face. "Guess you have to start trying harder."

"Yeah," The ten year old popped on arm off his face and dropped it behind Navi's back so that she could rest against it. "guess so..."

"I heard you and your father go into a shouting match."

"There was a lot of screaming... Zelda, Me, Edric, Father, Jason, and a bit from Rowan." Lincoln shrugged, plopping the other arm at his side. "Thomas might have slept through the whole thing."

Navi rolled her eyes. "That doesn't surprise me." Biting her lip, she placed a hand on his arm and spoke in a low voice. "Are you okay... though? With everything going on?"

"I'm kind of excited, actually." Though Link did not sound anything more than tired. "I've met a few Gorons and a Zora before but I've never got to travel there... this is going to be... like something in a novel."

"If we're unlucky." Navi grinned.

Link laughed and winked at his Fae. "Keep your boring life to yourself. I want to travel."

"Fine." The Fae giggled. "I'll stick to reading the books, you stick to living them. Send a letter when its all over." His tongue stuck out and a laugh bubbled forth from his chest, bouncing Navi, but it was not long until Lincoln fell into a restful sleep. Navi got a servants to situate him better then left her charge to go find the Princess. She wanted to get more details on what happened earlier while he slept.

The halls of Hyrule Castle were bright and interesting to venture through during the day. Windows opened up and revealed the beautiful grounds of the Palace which offered a devastatingly powerful view of the Fields that spanned past the drawbridge protecting Castle Town. Navi fluttered with her face pressed against the cold glass and marveled for a while at the world at the edge of her fingertips.

They, her and Link, would travel that wide world upon the morning.

That thought scared and fueled her.

"_So_, you are the Fae traveling with Lord Raven's boy." A deep, unmistakenable voice rumbled from behind Navi and she felt her heart stop. "I do not believe we have met." She turned and faced the visage of the Gerudo King. "I am Ganondorf, Leader of the Gerudo."

Navi pressed her entire body against the pane of glass and averted her eyes to the ground. "Navi."

"A pleasure to meet you, Faerie." The man spoke with a forced sort of kindness that almost felt like a threat. "I cannot stay and talk but," He smiled and the sight sent shivered up the poor Fae's spine. "be sure to tell Lord Lincoln that I look forward to meeting the new brave Prince of Hyrule." He moved away but stopped. "_Please_, do inform him as well, that the road is a dangerous place." Navi wondered if she imagined the glint in his eye as she spoke the next few words. "Odd things happen in the wild."

She watched the darkness that had haunted Link's dreams walk away with a strong stride and shadows filling into his steps. Her heart started, softly, beneath the soft skin of her chest and she felt sick. Sick as if Death had sunk his teeth into her... a taste filled her mouth and the Fae fought the urge to puke.

It was Dark Magick, she was sure of that...

Navi gave up the task of finding the Princess in that moment and flew to find Rowan and Thomas. If she could help it, they would leave much earlier than dawn.

* * *

Just wondering... what would you like to see happen in the next chapter... or perhaps a future one? :)


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Here we go! Another chapter down! I like this one better than the last one but I am still not happy with it... but if I had kept fiddling with it then it would have never been posted... and I might have been decapitated for that.

I am trying to crank these chapters out faster because I really want to get to the juicer parts of the story... like the boss battles annnnnd Ruto... just cause I have something really great planned for her. HAHA :P

Please review and tell me how you liked this chapter... Do you think it was sloppy or does it seem to have the same quality as previous ones?

:) Thanks, guys! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

The room of a Princess should be ornate, lavish, and fill to the brim with expense. Zelda's room was just that. A four post bed with a dark purple, heavy curtains, a steel vanity worked to look like streams of ribbon held a large mirror's weight, a small amythest chandelier was centered in the middle of a grand painting scheme of large birds in the sky with what looked to be riders upon them, and great fireplace large enough for Link to stand in.

The boy and his Faerie had arrived not long after Navi related her story of meeting Ganondorf in the hallway. Lincoln had wanted to tell the Princess about the encounter as well... though he did not know what could be done about it.

"A-And then he walked away." Navi took a deep breath and dropped back on a powder cushion that lay on Zelda's vanity. The Princess sat on the stool before her and had been watching the tiny girl, carefully, the whole time the story was recounted.

"He threatened him?" Zelda's voice was angry and her violet eyes grew cold but her fingers rose up to her hair which gave away the fear bubbling in her gut. Her lips tightened together and she forced herself to drop her hand into her lap.

"I'm sure of it." Navi growled. "He didn't say anything specifc-"

The wisdom in those young orbs lured Navi in and she felt as if she was in a trance as Zelda cut through. "But he was..." The ten year old, yanking up her dress with disdain, hopped off her seat and glanced, briefly, at Link who was collapsed on her bed. "That-That-That _bastard _threatened him with an accident!" She flung herself next to her bethrothed and growled. "You would think he would have more... _tact_ than that."

Lincoln leaned up with a raised brow and sighed. "This is not a game of chess, Zelda."

"I _know_." The girl growled. "So, why is he-"

"He wants to garner a reaction from you." Impa cut in with her strong voice that Link had learned to love in the little time he had known her. "Which he has done. You are angry, offended, and scared." The Shiekah moved from where she had been standing at a nearby window and leaned against the bottom, right bedpost which was carved in the visage of the ascending Goddesses. "Ganondorf wants Lincoln to fear him-"

"I am not afraid of him." Link glared as if his piercing gaze would hinder the fact that Impa could see he was lying.

"You would be stupid if you did not." Impa clicked her tongue and continue with brief wave of her hand. "And you are _not _stupid, Lordling... Ganondorf wants your fear because fear is the greatest of deterents."

Zelda leaned up and nodded. "You are right, of course." She turned to Link and frowned, softly. "However, you showed great bravery requesting this journey to my father, a genius idea, but I fear it may backfire to some extent. Ganondorf knows the roads you will be taking... and... there are many things that can go wrong on the road." Her violet eyes wondered to her hands and Zelda paused for a moment. "We need him to underestimate you... to bid you time to retrieve the Stones."

Link frowned. "You do not think I could manage it?"

"I want you to come back as safe as possible." Violet eyes met cobalt and both children blushed. "I want to give this as much of a chance as I can."

Navi smirked, rolling her eyes at the sight of the two. "So, what's the plan, Princess?"

"Tell him that the idea originated from me. I told you that it was my greatest wish to have the Kingdom united under one roof for my wedding." Zelda's face grew paler by several shades and as she continued to speak her voice grew softer. "He-He already knows about me spying... and that I know the secrets of the Royal Family. He will suspect that I sent you on a quest you can never achieve and will, if we are lucky, be led to believe that I am the one he should be watching..." Zelda swallowed, fidgeting with her hands, and whispered. "He will turn his gaze toward me... and, if he is distracted, he will try to keep me from plotting against him here... and than he shall not be able to send anyone to harm you."

Link's eyes grew stormy and his Hudson frowned formed. "I will not let you put yourself in harm's way." He took up her hand and squeezed it. "I-"

"_I_ have Impa." Zelda smiled, lacing her hand into his, and bit her lip. "Besides... I am not as helpless as I look."

"Magick?" Navi asked, fluttering above Lincoln's shoulder. "I thought you looked like you could wield it but I was not sure... so, can you?"

"Of course." Impa scoffed. "A Princess is not allowed to carry a sword. Do you think I would let her walk around completely defenseless?"

Link grinned at that. "I thought _you_ were her sword."

Navi laughed. "She is. Zelda just has an invisible shield."

"This is nothing to joke about." Impa frowned, crossing her arms and giving the two a scorching look.

"What is it my Father always says?" Zelda beamed at her guardian as Link and Navi's sudden goofiness seeped into her. " 'If you can laugh at your opponent then you can defeat him.' or... something to that effect." She giggled and dropped back onto her mattress. "If anything is funny in all of this... it would be the size of Ganondorf's nose!"

Impa's lips tightened either from trying to keep a smile from emerging or because she was generally upset with their light heartedness... but that did not stop the children or Navi from laughing.

When they finally calmed down; everyone sat in comfortable silence. Link squeezed Zelda's hand and she squeezed his back which soon developed in a game where he would create a pattern and she would have to try to remember it. Needless to say, it resulted in a few more giggles that left Navi confused.

"I cannot believe we just got here and are leaving again." Navi sighed, shooting out puffs of what looked like glitter from her hands.

Zelda appeared crestfallen at that thought. "I will miss you both... I have not had anyone to play with in so long." She sat up, removing her hand from Link's, and that same hand soon found her hair.

Lincoln leaned up as well and bumped his shoulder into her, lightly. "We will be back soon... before you know it..." He smirked at her and his blue eyes lit up with mirth as she smiled back at him. "Besides, you would get tired of us after a week. We tend to be bad influences."

"Oh?" Zelda giggled. "How so? You have been nothing but a perfect gentleman to me."

Navi rolled her eyes and landed on her partner's shoulder. "Link? A gentleman? Princess, you are sorely confused. He is an absolute brat!"

Raven closed his eyes and drank in the smell of roses whisked about through a cold breeze. His joint ached and decade old war wounds began to sting though the scars had painted over the various lacerations that decorated his body. Raven was not the visage of a withered man and was still quite strong though he did not feel it at that moment. He had lived sixty years on the Goddesses' Earth and most of that had been spent as a father, warrior, and leader.

Raven, however, was not leading himself down a pleasent train of thought.

Guilt had been festering inside of him before the death of the Great Deku Tree and not all of it was due to the situation now dawning on him.

Though it all had to do with his son, Lincoln.

He forced his child to grow up quicker than any boy should and pushed expectations that the boy could have never dreamed of meeting... though Link had. Raven had vowed upon the bloodied head of his first born, Jason, that none of his children would ever be forced to live the childhood he did... though here he sat by and watched Lincoln walk a similar path.

Only grown men to keep him company, a sword in hand at a young age, war verging and very well on the way, and death...

That was not all Raven had on his mind regarding his boy... for there was the matter of Link's mysterious birth. Raven had not been a young man during the child's conception and, although the Lordling took some of his features, the Lord of White Tower had many doubts that the child was his. Evangeline was treated almost harshly by Raven during the months that Link grew in her womb and even a few years afterwards in which Raven had little to do with the toddler.

True, when the newborn Lincoln has been placed in his arms, Raven nearly cried with joy but he grew distant from the babe once he reached his first birthday... for he reasoned that Link was not his.

And so it was up to the men of the Hudson Households, Raven's other sons and grandchildren, to fill the void that Raven left. They all took Link under their wings and spent as much of their time with him as they could. They put a sword in the boy's hand and gave him the love that the Old Lord withheld in fear that Link was not his...

However, Link was not a child to be denied and it was a strange day that dawned that the ice Raven formed around his heart melted...

_Thomas spun his blade in a clean circle and sliced the scarecrow his face in two without an ounce of effort. The brown haired, brown eyed, handsome twenty-three year old then burst out with a grin when the giggles of his three year old little brother met his pointed ears._

_"Did you like that, Little Link?" Thomas approached the child and ruffled the boy's already mussy blonde hair. He kneeled down, putting his sword into the scabbard at his waist, and peered into the blue eyes that he so loved. _

_"Again, Tom! Again!" Link giggled, clapping hands dirtied from making mud pies that Evangeline was sure to enjoy throwing out. The boy's face and clothing was also covered in his 'pies' though Thomas was sure he could see bits of food somewhere underneath the layers of mud. "Peas!" Those eyes begged and the new Knight's heart melted._

_"Well, you did say _please_." Thomas repeated the mispronounced word to, gently, correct his brother though the three year old did not notice. "One more, then, we have to deliver those... um, pies."_

_"Yay!" Lincoln jumped in excitment and jabbed his finger at sand bag hanging several feet away. "That one, go get that one! It's an ogre!"_

_The 'ogre' really was for practicing shield bashing the weight of a man but Thomas smirked and prepared to attack the 'monster' with his blade. "An ogre!" The young man screamed with exaggerated surprise. "Stand back, Little Brother!" He picked the boy up and tossed him into a nearby hay pile. "I shall protect ye!" Thomas lunged forward, racing toward the bag, but was met with a sword clashing into his own. _

_"Ahhhhh, another monster!" Lincoln half-laughed, half-shouted as Rowan's red headed figure slipped into the 'battle'. "Look out, Tom, Rowan is a monster!"_

_"He's ugly enough to be one!" Thomas laughed, dodging the swipe from the twenty-nine year old's fist. "Hello, Brother."_

_Rowan stabbed at the younger Knight and smirked. "Ugly is better than idiotic."_

_Thomas slashed the blade away, danced around another attempt, and met his brother's sword with a laugh. "How cruel you are!"_

_"Your footing is bad." Rowan hooked his foot around the back of Thomas' and pulled forward then lunged. _

_Thomas, heart dropping to the pit of his stomache, hit the earth and tucked his legs to his chest then kicked out. His boots made contact with Rowan's chest, the man stumbled back, and the twenty-three year old rolled to his feet with a stupid grin. "Who needs good footing when you ha-" Metal clanged in the air as Rowan's blade kissed Thomas'. "Mad about a little dirt, Brother?" The brown haired youth allowed his elder silbling to maintain the offence as he parried each attack. Their banter had died down and soon both were very serious in their practice._

_Rowan slipped into defence easy with just a quick change of stance and a step back. His right hand cut under Thomas' sword arm and took hold of the wrist. "Want to learn a new trick?"_

_"Heh, not really." The Knight was breathing hard for it was hard for him to match Rowan's skill. But," Thomas attempted to jerk himself free but found he was stuck in a vice grip. "I suppose you will show me any-AH!" He felt his wrist crack, his nerves catch on fire, and watch with wide eyes as his blade hit the dirt._

_The Knight of the Realm, Rowan, stepped back with a smirk. "Interesting, no?"_

_Thomas frowned, snatching up his weapon, and then proceeded to stab the sand sack just to the right of him. "Yes, not enjoyable though." From beyond their conversation, Link was heard screaming out in triumph that the ogre was dead... and something about how Thomas must now finish his fight with Rowan the Monster. "Would you let me defeat you, now?"_

_Green eyes glanced back toward the shrieking three year old and Rowan smiled. "For him. Not you." Catching Thomas' sword between his arm and side; the second of Raven's sons collapsed back onto the ground and went limp._

_"The beast is felled!" Thomas exclaimed, stomping his foot down on his brother's chest and receiving a hateful glare._

_Link sprang from the hay and dashed toward the two with a smile bright enough to light up a pitch black room. "You did it!" The child collapsed across Rowan's chest and lifted up one of the redhead's eyelids with a giggle. "You're not dead, Rowan."_

_The Knight popped an eye open, illicting a squeal, and caught the boy up in his arms. "Right you are, Little Link!" Rowan stood up, plopping the child down on his feet, and laughed. "Now, Little Brother, I am leaving to go visit Anju... so I must say good-bye."_

_Lincoln pouted. "Why? Can't I come with you?"_

_"No, you must stay here with Father and your Mother." Rowan ruffled the boy's hair, dropped down on a knee, and kissed his forehead. "Be good and I shall see you soon." He stood, clasped hands with Thomas, and smiled. "I shall see you upon the morrow. It will be interesting to see how you take to Castle life... I... am proud of you, Thomas."_

_Thomas beamed. "See you then... and thank you." When their brother had departed, the young Knight turned to the baby of the family and rose a brow at the frown on his face. "What is wrong?"_

_"You're leaving!" Tears were already welling up in those blue eyes. "And I will be all alone!"_

_"No, you will not." Thomas smirked, scooped the boy up, and smiled. "You have Father and your Mother... and Darion will play with you."_

_"I have Mother b-b-but Darion is boring... and Father _HATES me_." Tears wiped away the dirt that clung to that boy's face and his blue eyes surged with sadness. "He hates me, Tom!" Lincoln's voice cracked with emotion as his fingers wrapped themselves in the orange tunic Thomas wore. "Take me w-w-with you! P-Peas."_

_"Father _does not _hate you, Lincoln! And I wish I could, Little Link, but I cannot..."_

_Those eyes settled into Thomas' brown ones and, with every bit of seriouness that a three year old could summon, Link spoke. "Yes, yes he does, Tom. He hates me. You have to take me with you."_

_Thomas' jaw clenched and his free hand reached up and wiped away his brother's tears. "You cannot come." A lump settled in the twenty-three year old's throat and his heart sank. "I am sorry." He placed the child down and watched Lincoln take hold of the botoom of his tunic._

_"Peas, Tom, Peas! Y-You can t-take me w-with you a-and I'll be g-good!" Link's knuckles grew white and his blue eyes squeezed shut while tears poured from them. "I c-can be your s-son! Y-You love me!"_

_The Knight listened to the three year old cry and cast his brown eyes around the top of the Training Grounds where the halls of White Tower opened up to allow the inhabitants to view it... and Raven Hudson met his son's angry eyes. _

_Thomas wrapped Link up in his arms and glared at Raven. "Listen, Sweet Brother, Father is an odd man... and he does odd things... and he never means them. He loves you, he does, Lincoln... he just does not know how to express it." The Knight carried away the boy and soon the sound of the child's cries were heard no longer._

_It was not an hour later that Evangeline burst into Raven's study._

_"I want you to go and took at _OUR_ boy, Raven. I want you to go look at his face as hard as you can and tell me how you can deny him. How you can be so hateful to a child that has shown you nothing but love." Her own blue eyes raged and her pretty mouth snarled like a wolfos ready to attack. "You go and you take him in your arms and you tell him you love him because if you do not then I am leaving. I will go to Hyrule Castle and I will tell Edric what a fool you have been and he will come here and beat you within an inch of your life for this foolishness." Her hands grasped at Raven's collar and she pressed a harsh kiss to his lips. "And then I will marry that damned Reginald just to see you squirm." Evangeline released him and stormed through the door without even shutting it._

_So, Raven traveled to Lincoln's room and peered down at the boy he was convinced was not his... and then cobalt blue eyes opened._

_"Father?" He asked, sleepily. "What are you doing?" Those eyes peered into his with innocence and a craving for love... _

_And tears found Raven's eyes... guilt clawed at him as he stared into his son's eyes for the first time since he was one. "I-" His voice broke and Raven swore he would not be able to say the words simply because he meant them so much... "I just wanted to tell you, Sweetling, that I- I love you." Then he took Link into his arms and weeped._

At the memory, Raven dropped his head and sighed. If Link could remember any of that happening then he had never mentioned it before... though it was nearly impossible that the boy would.

Raven had made sure of that.

Link must never know of his Father's harboured hatred of him during that brief time... for if his son found out... then he would surely hate him.

"Navi told me about the state she found you in." It was Thomas. "She said you were rambling about how Link must never know about something or else he would hate you... in his room." The thirty year old Knight sighed and sat next to his Father. "He had enough worries on his shoulders... how about you stay away from the drink and his room for a while."

"Is that a threat?" Raven glanced over with a frown.

Thomas shrugged, clapping the old man on his back, and stood. "I would not threaten you... but I would be very angry with you... and so would the rest of the family, if, of course... you caused him anymore grief." The Knight gave a soft, kindly, smile. "But, for now, I would worry about how he is going to be gone from you for a week starting tomorrow... and, Father?"

Raven met his son's gaze.

"Ganondorf is returning to the Desert. Tonight." Those brown eyes darkened. "And he was not very happy about this little journey our Lincoln has planned. We will need to be ready for anything."


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: I am on a roll! :P

I do not apologize for the things you are about to read. I finally wrote something I like... I just hope you guys like it too. ^.^'

Read and Review, my lovelies!

-Q

Also,

Metal Chocobo ( u/1151842/ )

Thank you for the review! :) Its what helped me pound this sucker out!

* * *

Zelda leaned against the frame of her bedroom door and sighed. Her hair swept against her shoulders and framed her face, prettily, though her eyes contrasted against her pale skin with how strikingly undainty they were. "Are you nervous?"

"Yes... and no." Link tapped his boot against the ground and ran a hand through his hair with a soft half-laugh. "Yes, because I think your Father threatened me at dinner... and, no, because my brothers will be there."

Zelda's lips tugged downward and her eyebrows arched upward. "I do not mean to put anymore pressure on you-"

"But?" Navi was sitting upon the shadow Link had come to know as Impa.

"_But_," The Princess almost smiled though her eyes kept their seriousness. "we do not just face one dangerous opponent." The girl huffed, tucking back her locks. "There are _politics_ and other rules to this game we have been thrust into."

Lincoln smirked. "Yes, I know... but, Zelda... we have an _advantage_."

Impa's armor glinted off the moonlight pouring into the hallway and her feminine lips formed a masculine frown. "It is naive to assume such, Link. We believe we have the advantage because we assume Ganondorf does not know what we have planned... True, he dispersed but that does not mean his ears are gone from the Castle." The Sheikah brushed Navi from her shoulder and ushered the Lordling into her charge's room. "We do not know what _he_ is planning either... he is back in the desert _with his People_. The Gerudo are not women to be trifled with. They are as strong or stronger than any of the Knights we have." Her crimson eyes clashed with blue. "Yes, perhaps even your talented brothers."

"She is right, Link." The Princess sighed, wrapping her arms about herself. "We have the Ocarina, the Emerald, but other than that we have no other plan."

"I am going to get the other Stones!" The boy exclaimed, waving his hands in the arm which would have been comical had he not been so serious. "We will have all the keys Ganondorf will need to get the Triforce!"

"Together. You will have them all _together_." Impa growled. "We have not planned for what happens when you get them back to the Castle."

Navi landed on the top of her partner's head and glanced down at him as he looked up at her. "What if I take them to my King?"

"The Faerie Court?" Zelda gasped, violet eyes bulging at the thought. "B-But they have never entered the affairs of the Hylians!"

The tiny girl laughed. "No, we have stood by the Kokiri... you forget, that my people were friends with the Great Deku Tree... and he was murdered. He put my friends and kin in danger by unleashing Gohma. We have just as much of a reason to keep those Stones from him as the Royal Family does." Navi stepped off Lincoln's head and moved so that she could read the trio's faces. "Do you remember the doors we found in the Lost Woods, Link?"

"Doors?" It clicked almost instantly. "Yes!"

Zelda frowned. "Doors? Do you mean to tell me that you have found the _Lost_ Doors?" The Princess flew away from them before anyone could speak and was soon throwing things out of a metal chest dragged from beneath her bed. "Here." She thrust a map into Link's hand and smiled. "Look at this."

Navi snatched the paper from her friend's hand and unrolled it upon the floor which would have been a task if she had not used magick. "How old is this?"

"I do not know... it is older than my Father's line but I believe it came from my Mother's." Zelda bit her lip and placed a finger over a place Link knew by heart. "This is the Kokiri Woods." The details were outstanding even if it was not completely up to date. The Village placement was wrong but it showed the path all the way up to the Sacred Meadow. It even had the doors. "I have looked this map over so many times that I know it by heart... I could transverse the Lost Woods as fast as any Kokiri..." Her eyes met Lincoln's over the ancient paper. "I want you to have it, Link... it is my gift to you."

He beamed at her. "Thank you." And took up her hand, pressing a kiss to it, and laughed. "_Beloved _Princess."

Zelda laughed, blushing slightly. "Navi is right. You _are_ a brat." He stuck his tongue out at her.

"To return you all back to the topic at hand, when will you have time to give the Stones to the Faeries?" Impa's voice interjected and the children all looked up at her. "He only has a week to retrieve them and return for the wedding."

The scene grew grim, once more, and settled into silence as everyone thought.

After a while, Lincoln shrugged. "It will have to be after the wedding because I have to present them to the King along with Darunia and King Zora." Link yawned and could feel how late it was in his bones. "I need to sleep... I have a long week ahead of me."

"Should I escort you to your room?" Impa asked, rolling up the map and handing it to the boy.

"No... it is not far and Navi can scream _really_ loud if anything bad happens." Lincoln laughed as his Fae glared at him. "Good night, Impa." He turned to Zelda and smiled. "Good-" Her arms wrapped around his neck and squeezed him in a tight embrace." Night, Princess."

"You are not allowed to leave without saying good bye." She glared, pulling away with a smile. "Promise?"

"I promise." He laughed and blushed as he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

Navi issued a quick farewell herself and, together, the two journeyed to Link's room where sleep awaited them... and took them without a fight.

Dawn slipped from Night's grip and the Sun greeted His children with the warmth of morning. The sunshine burned away the fog that usually gripped Hyrule Castle and everyone rejoiced in the promise of a beautiful day.

King Edric threw his feet over his large, feather bed and released a bear like yawn that shook his stretching limbs. "I do not think I will ever get used to you stalking around the corners of my room every morning."

"It is only for a while longer, My King." Impa replied, still as a statue with red eyes. "But, if you would prefer I guar-"

"If I had not enjoyed your company, Lady Impa, then I would have told you so by now." He chuckled, twisting a few curls of his black beard. "Oh," His brown eyes settled into hers without any fear. "I forgot... _Lord_."

Impa crossed her arms and allowed a rare smile. "You are _King_. You may call me whatever name you like."

Edric grinned, light dancing in his eyes like fireflies in the night. "Are you sure you would grant me such a thing, Milady?" The tone in his voice was soft and it sent a certain type of shiver down Impa's spine.

It was a pleasent kind of feeling but she could not afford to enjoy. "No, but you are King."

"Your smile is gone." The King frowned and stood without care that he was nude. His sheet fell away from a body few blacksmiths could brag upon and Impa's eyes lurked where she knew they should not. "Impa?"

They shot back up to his face and she ignored the heat coming from her own. She felt like a young girl, again, and hated it. "Yes, My Liege?" There had been tension between them ever since he was nothing more than a young Prince, even after he married his wife, and it had grown over the many years after her death. It was almost intolerable at times... but Impa had to keep her head clear.

"What if I were to say I wish to call you..." He smiled the way he used to smile when he was about to tell the punchline of a joke... but his eyes were serious like when he swung that hammer of his. "Wife?"

"I would say you are a fool." Impa's eyes narrowed into a glare, her face returned to its statuesque state, and her heart exploded in her chest.

He laughed away the pain that lingered in the brown orbs Impa pretended not to love and draped himself in a robe. "And I would say you are a liar, My Lady." The King ran a large hand through his hair and met her eyes once more. "I do not know what will happen in the coming days, Impa... sometimes I almost find it in my heart to believe my daughter's odd dreams... but I know that I want her safe... I want you _both_ to be safe."

"Nothing shall happen so long as everything continues to go as smoothly as it has." Impa peered out the window and sighed. "Though it has always been your nature to worry over such things."

He smirked, crossing his grand but dark room to his wardrobe. "You know me too well..." Edric did not open the closet, however, and turned instead to the woman in his room. "What do you think of the wedding... and the Gerudo Pact?"

"The Gerudo Pact is a nice idea." Her lips tightened, thoughts raced, and she frowned. "I do not trust Ganondorf... However, wedding Princess Zelda to Lord Lincoln is a wise move... especially after his little request."

Edric furrowed his brow and he let out a low growl. "You have let my daughter's dream shake you."

"I do not trust him because he has given me no reason do to so." Impa's voice verged on anger and she stepped back into the shadows to calm herself. "Though you should take an ear to her. She is a wise girl, My Liege."

Instantly, his face melted into regret. "Of course, she is... my beautiful Zelda has always been wise... and so odd."

Silence fell and the King moved to his bed. "She loves you..." Impa spoke, softly, like a whisper. "Edric."

"But, does she know I love her?"

How she wished to go to him and express some form of comfort... but Impa did not know how to without compromising her heart. "Yes. She knows."

"Impa... you will protect her... if..."

"I would give my life for the Princess." Her voice answered, fiercely.

Edric stood with conflicted expression. "I do not wish for that." Brown eyes scorched past the barriers Impa had long since put up and stared straight into her. "IF anything happens. You take my daughter and you _run_." The thin lines of wrinkles starting in his thirty-five year old face. "Swear it."

"We will not need to r-"

He was there, suddenly, and had her shoulders locked in a vice group. "You, s_wear it._"

"I swear, Edric, I swear." Impa's voice came out strong though her knees felt weak. His gaze poured into hers like molten metal and tension boiled to a point... the heat of his body, the strength he wielded, and his voice... but she could not let it break. "I have to go wake her n-"

This could not be said about the King. His lips crashed against hers like waves on a rocky shore... her body slammed into the stone wall behind her and she drowned in him... and he in her.

When she finally could surface for air, Impa collapsed into the sheets, chest heaving, and closed her eyes. "I will guard from the outside from now on."

Edric rolled into his chest and sighed into his crossed arm. "You are-"

"We cannot do this." The Sheikah turned to face him with her shoulder length hair splayed across the King's pillow. "Not in the midst of this chaos... nor ever."

"All your Sisters have married... but not you. You have always been stubborn and strong... married to your ways." He stroked a finger across her cheek and leaned up onto an elbow. "I do not wish to change you, to cloud your head with worry for me as you belive you will if we start... _this_, but I would like..." He smiled, softly. "to call you Lover if not Wife."

She glared, swung her feet out of the bed, and swept her hair over her shoulder. "Emotions are vile things, Edric." Impa brushed her white locks back and tied it into the usual bun. "I cannot protect you and the Prin-"

"I am not asking you to do that, Woman!" He growled, frustration finally aggravating his anger. "If anything goes wrong_ then you let me die _and you protect my daughter. I have guards and I am not an old man yet." He released a calming breath. "I only want you to be here when I fall asleep and when I wake... no longer lurking in the shadows-" He laughed." -as I change."

Impa stood and, no sooner has she landed on her feet, was she pulled back into the King's bed. She whipped around and glared. "I do not _lurk_." She relinquished her stubbornness and sighed. "I must go wake the Princess up... I-" Those crimson eyes met his brown ones and she frowned. "Perhaps I shall see you tonight..."

Edric beckoned her with a finger. "The King commands you to kiss him before you leave."

A light slap was all he received. She dressed and he watched her like a theater show and left him to his own devices. If Zelda missed seeing Lincoln off then Impa would have hell to pay.

She entered the Princess' room without making a sound and found the girl already dressed and brushing through the tangles in her gold locks. Impa pressed her boots down harder so that Zelda could hear her and took the brush.

"You are up early."

The Princess shrugged, too tired to speak, and allowed Impa to take over but after a while she answered. "I had another nightmare."

"The same one?"

"No." Golden waves shook back and forth and Zelda yawned, once more. "It was different... but I cannot remember it now." The ten year old's head dropped back and she smiled. "Could you braid my hair?"

Impa smiled and brushed back the child's bangs. "Yes."

The sound of horses greeted them as they raced toward the Castle Drawbridge and Zelda's face collapsed with worry.

"He has left without saying good-bye! I know it! I know it!" Her heels clicked and clacked as the girl ran toward the sound. She wore a long, plain, velvet red dress with a tan corset tied close to her skin though she did not need it. She was a blur of blood as she hurried... reaching the bridge with gasping breathes.

Impa smirked, placing a hand flat between the Princess' shoulder blades. "He left, did he?"

The boy was no longer dressed in black but in a dark blue tunic, a brown belt with many pouches, brown fingerless gauntlets, and looked like a tiny ranger with a quiver and bow. Lincoln's cobalt eyes almost glowed as he caught sight of the Princess. He dropped from his saddle and raced toward her.

The girl took off and they collided in a strong embrace.

Tears were streaming from Zelda's violet eyes as Link squeezed her back. "You had best come back in just this condition, Lincoln."

"Everything is going to be fine, Zelda." He pulled away and beamed at her. "Absolutely fine." Thomas and Rowan swapped sad smiles with Jason and Raven as they watched the two children.

The Princess began to sob. "Please, do not promise that. Please, promises are things to be-"

Link's face came back red as he parted their lips from the quick kiss. "Zelda... I am not making a promise." He dropped to one knee and pounded a fist to his chest with a confident smile. "It is an oath."

* * *

A/N: I really hope I did not turn any of you off with that little bit between Edric and Impa... I really just want Impa to be Zelda's new mom offically...

:D Oh! And if you guys like to read fancomics for LOZ then, please, check this out!

gallery/?set=39271030&offset=0#/d4spcy6

It is also in French! :)

art/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Lurking-Shadows-p-1-FR-294200303

A friend of mine is writing it and it is very promising! :)


	21. Chapter 21

_(A/N: Guys, I am so sorry for not having posted this. It has been done for a while but I haven't found the time to go through it and work out a few problems that it had. I'm hoping I caught them all._

_My Dad has had back problems for a long time and they have gotten worse recently. My life is very complicated for more reasons then that so progress on this story is going to be a lot slower than I ever intended when I started it._

_I will work on it whenever I can but, please, please, please be patient. I will update as soon as possible. _

_Thank you ALL so MUCH for all of the reviews, comments, and continued patience with me. I am honored to have all of you read my stories.)_

_Thanks, again._

_Queaky._

Zelda flexed her fingers out as far as they could go and stretched them out far before her. She closed her violet eyes and forced her almost perfect memory to the forefront of her mind.

"You must focus." Impa spoke, hands placed upon the Princess' shoulders to steady the girl in the case of a backfire. "Let all things fall away."

The girl's brow furrowed, the air was cool as it was pulled through her lips, and she brushed away the thoughts of the day like ashes from a fireplace. Her arms crossed into a perfect 'X', slowly, and the sound of the wind was all she heard.

"Can you feel it?"

There was no answer for if she was to do so then she would lose her concentration. The wind was no more than a light breeze outside of her bedroom window... but Zelda wished for it to gust... to blow... to hurricane... but only when she was ready to command it. Her heart beat slowed and, for an instant, stopped. Her palms rotated in a downward circle toward her and as she shot her arms out like one would throw knives... the wind heard her command.

_Farore's Wind_ obeyed and ripped apart the defenseless dummy like a newly sharpened dagger through rice paper.

"Well done."

Zelda scowled. "Well done?" Her violet eyes lept to the Sheikah's face with clear upset showing on her young face. "That dummy can withstand the force of a well seasoned Knight and a newly sharpened sword!"

"Yes." Impa kicked at the bag representing the thing's head and picked up a wooden shield propped against the Princess's bed. "However, impressive that casting was, it still took you nearly fifteen minutes to complete the spell."

"Fifteen?" The ten year old frowned, violet eyes widening. "That is impossible!"

"Hardly anything is impossible." Impa smirked. "And that is not one of them." It took a few minutes but another dummy was situated to hang from the child's ceiling and armed with a shield. "You need to clear your mind, Zelda, if you are not be successful at Mastering-"

"It is hard to do so with so much on it."

"Link shall be fine."

"Link... yes... I know." Those violet eyes glinted with that odd glimmer of ancient cunning that so often invaded the youthful orbs. "To be completely honest, Impa, not all of my thoughts have been of things outside the Castle Walls."

The Shiekah rose a brow and, inwardly, marveled at how her charge's precise wording frightened her. Despite the tremor of her heart, she inquired with a perfectly even. "Oh?"

"Link's position should lie close to the Inn near the River Crossing before Kakariko... Ganondorf and Nabooru should be arriving at the Fortress tomorrow morning... and you." Zelda crossed her arms over her chest. "You sit here..." The hope and hurt in those eyes crushed Impa's heart but she remained stoic. "I thought the halls would be thriving with whispers about the odd circumstances due to the sudden events... but, to my surprise, it has been about the state that you left my father's room in."

Red eyes barely moved but the Princess noticed. She was looking too hard for the movement to be ignored. "Would you truly be-"

"It is of little business to me." Zelda frowned, heart wrenched between joy and hurt. "However, you-" The ten year old's eyes dropped to hide the emotion she felt dredging up from all that had been going on. "You are like a mother to me... I will forever cherish Mother's memory but... _you_ are the one who raised me."

Impa remained still in shock and speechlessness. She had thought little of what transpired that morning for there was very little time to.

"To have you take Mother's place would finally mean the end of her..." The child swallowed a sob and smiled, softly. "But, that would also mean you would be my new mother offically..."

"It is not as serious as all of that, Zelda." Impa frowned, wanting to calm the girl and give herself some time to collect her thoughts.

Zelda sighed in both frustration and mild disappointment. "IF it is or is not, that is not my business... as I said, however, know that you have my blessing." With that she turned back toward the dummy and began to concentrate as she had before.

Impa's brows furrowed and red orbs burrowed into the back of the girl's head. This was not a complication she wished to deal with... She had much grander schemes to plan but this problem had to be seen to... "As wise as you are, Zelda, you do not yet know the ways of adult affairs." An inward wince at her own wording did not show upon the Sheikah's face. "The relationship between King Edric and I is defined by the statuses we are given. One day, perhaps, you may understand but for now do not dwell on the matter. There are more pressing things to focus open this is not one."

The child released her spell which fizzled out to her displeasure. "You are right..." Zelda frowned and turned her gaze toward her window. "I barely know him... yet all I can do pray for is his safety."

"He has risked a lot based almost completely on your word."

Zelda clapsed her hands together and sighed. "I know."

"Now, would you _please_ reaccount for me the exact nature of what you thought you were going to do?" Rowan smirked, glancing up at the sky with a casualness befitting of a tourist. His heavy cloak kept the sting of the chill from him for; even though the sun was shining brightly; it was cold.

Hyrule Field seemed to follow its own weather patterns. It could be boiling hot one day and snowing the next even if Summer was coarsing through the land. The Hudsons had been graced with a rather good day for travel even if the chill made one's bones creak.

Thomas' hands flew up and wiggled about his head for a moment before he crossed them across his chest. "Except with fire."

Rowan remained silent for a few moment before he allowed a laughing fit to seize him. "And how was that going to stop them from drowning you?"

"I would have been on _fire_. Zoras hate fire."

"You were in the Water Temple."

"So?"

"Water is everywhere down there."

"I was naive... young." Thomas' embarassment was plain and though only Rowan seemed amused.

"You were 20. A Knight already." Rowan smirked, eyebrow raised expectantly. "And a damned good one too."

Thomas laughed. "Past tense, I see." His brown eyes glinted in challenge. "We both know I could still beat you."

Rowan frowned, suddenly, and felt his chest swell with his own pride. "You have _never_ defeated me." The thirty-six year old shook his red head and held eight fingers out. "Eight times we have fought and not once in any of those spars have you disarmed or pinned me."

"Father never let us get bloody."

"So you think you could if we went to First Blood?" Rowan scoffed. "Brother, _I_ was the one to teach you all you know. It is hardly possible that you could even accomplish smacking me on the cheek much less dr-"

Thomas' hand connected, rather roughly, with the side of Rowan's right cheek and was followed by a roaring laugh. "What was that?"

Rowan snarled, his seething anger flashing red hot. "You little bastard!"

"Boys, would you please stop fooling around?" Navi shouted, twisting the old, gifted map around so that she could analyze a few shortcuts she spotted. She sat atop a saddle bag on Link's horse though the Fae would move just as soon as she had squatted down. It was quite apparent that this journey had her stir crazy.

"I was not 'fooling around', Navi." Thomas' handsome face melted into one of a warrior and he smiled, confidently. "I challange you, Sir Rowan, to a duel!"

"We do not have time for that." Navi glared, fluttering between the two Knights' horses.

Rowan rolled his eyes. "He knows that." A glare shot towards the brunette's way though the green eyes returned to steady on the little blue girl hovering about. "He should also know that I mean to _kill_ him when we have time to spare."

Thomas merely laughed and shook his head. "You love me too much, Brother!"

"Only half of you is my brother." Rowan chuckled. "I could always kill the other."

"And have my mother haunt you?" Thomas grinned, flicking at Navi's map in the process. "You would never sleep through a whole night for the rest of your miserable, kinky, redheaded life!"

The Knight choked. "Kinky?"

"HA HA! Aye, Kinky. I've heard stories about that tavern wench who tied you down and f-"

"Thomas!" His name was spat out, angrily, and in a huff the Fae landed open the head of the Knight's horse. Frustrated from having to deal with the wind and the map, Navi sighed in a feeble attempt to calm herself. "Do you have a quill?"

"Wha-? Does it _look _like I packed a quill?" The Knight chuckled at the furious face he recieved from the Fae and shrugged. "I do not understand why you are even fiddling with that thing. Rowan and I have been over every inch of Hyrule, collectively, so there is no worry about getting lost."

"Worry about watching your tongues." Navi rose, gracefully, though mumbling with irritation. "This is not for your concern." She then skipped over to Lincoln's horse instead.

A sign appeared for a tavern after nearly an hour and it was decided that would be their destination come nightfall. If all were lucky then they would reach it before the Moon peaked out. Thomas glanced backwards toward where his young brother trotted behind him and frowned.

The boy had been lost in his own thoughts for most of the day... a day that was nearly half way through.

"You've been quiet, Brother." Thomas stretched his arms out above his head, attempting to lure the limbs out of the restless state they were in, and cast a glance backwards. "Care to speak your mind?"

Rowan scoffed several feet ahead of them. Raven's second son had tried to cheer the child up earlier by attempting a small fire trick but had failed at both... though that did not stop Thomas from getting a laugh out of it."Not likely. That boy may be more stubborn than Father."

Thomas made a clicking sound with his tongue, inwardly amused at the way his elder brother cringed at the sound, and pulled back on his reigns so that he landed in perfect step with his sibling's steed. "Lady woes?"

Those blue eyes shot up into brown and blonde brows arched in surprise. "What?"

Ahead of them, the red headed Knight of the Realm twisted around in a rather uncomfortable way to give his youngest sibling an annoyed look. "Link, it has been hours since we left the Castle... You will need to wake from this daze you are in if we are going to make any progress with Darunia."

"We will not arrive there in nearly another day."

Thomas rolled his head around on his shoulders, popping it. "Yes... but you only have a week to get to Death Mountain _and_ Zora's Domain."

"And _then_ back to the Castle." Rowan tossed in with a tired looking face.

The other Knight nodded. "And then back to the Castle." He confirmed before turning to Link with an encouraging smile. "But, cheer up, Brother!" His contagious grin sparked a smirk in the boy though that distance gaze lingered in his blue eyes. "We are not here to see you fail."

Rowan chuckled. "So, if you would, please, remember this giant of a favor when you become King?" He laughed. "For future reference, I want to retire early."

Thomas caught up with his brother and grinned. "_You_ want to find time to hike a few skirts!"

Navi popped her head up from the contents of Zelda's map and looked around Link from where she sat leaned against him on the saddle. "Vulgarity is not needed!"

"Neither is nagging!" Thomas quipped with a very annoyed look. "Navi, I love you, but would you please stop being so..." The Knight turned to his older brother. "What word am I looking for?"

"Contravening."

Thomas beamed. "Ah! An impeccable description."

"Much appreciated." Rowan chuckled.

Navi stuck her tongue out. "All I wanted was a little more seriousness from you two." Her white eyes narrowed. "You act as if we are going on a day trip."

Rowan sighed, luring his steed back so that they weren't nearly shouting at each other. "Navi, we understand how serious this undertaking is... more so than probably yourself... you can be sure that we know this is not a vacation. The name of our House and, perhaps, our heads are in grave danger. I have already seen two scouting hawks soaring over head." His finger jabbed at a dot blotting out the sky in smooth circles far above them. "_That_ is a Gerudo bird. They send them out with messages of attack, changes of plans, and signals. We are being _watched_."

"You shouldn't have told them that." Thomas frowned, his own head upward at the sky so that the light washed across his face instead of the numbing chill about them. "Now, they will never get to sleep."

Rowan rolled his eyes, ignoring his younger sibling. "Now, would you rather I remain quiet or try to make light of things because as far as I can tell, Navi, you are doing little more than irk me at this point." His eyes narrowed. "I did not get hand picked to be a Knight of the Realm for naught. Do not tell me how I am to guard my little brother, practically like a son to me, or how to do my job."

Navi opened her mouth to speak... but closed it with a emotional huff. Her eyes returned to the ancient map and Link felt her shiver against his back. The Lordling sighed. "Brothers, let's calm our-"

"WE are calm. YOU are the one we are worried about." Thomas' finger nearly poked Link in the forehead as it stretched out over the small gap their horses had created. He smirked, softly and suddenly, after his outburst and sighed. "You know, I think this may be a good time to practice your archery." His finger moved from the boy's forehead and toward the sky while his brown brows arched with a look of cunning mischief.

Rowan frowned. "Killing the birds would not be the best action-"

"If he can hit them." Thomas intercepted though Rowan did not skip a beat as he continued.

"-We need the element of surprise."

"_He_ needs target practice."

"You both need to shut your mouth." Navi mumbled from behind her charge which incited a laugh from the two knights despite the unplayfulness of her tone.

Thomas slipped a few arrows from his own quiver and waved them at his youngest brother. "Want to try, eh, Little Link?"

Link grinned, shoving his worries away, and slipped his fingers around the bow thrown around his back. "I would love to, Tom."

The birds drew back after nearly two hours of being shot at... none of the arrows reaching far enough to clip them but close enough to be a danger if they flew to low. The Riverside Inn appeared shortly after Link's practice and the Hudsons quickly drew their covers about them...

Tomorrow they would greet Death Mountain.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: I caught some time today! I've noticed that my writing has started to slack so I tried to add more... detail or 'meat' rather than what seems, to me at least, plain dialouge. I wanted to show a better picture without overloading the page with ''the rose shone in the summer light like crystalized blood upon an emerald stem'' craziness. I try to put enough hints into a scene but because this is a game (I assume) we have all played I figure that many of you know the areas that I describe... with adjustments, of course. ;)_

_A friend of mine read this over to see if I misspelled anything... I completely trusted her and went ahead and uploaded this chapter... hopefully she didn't let me down!_

_Tell me what ya think! _

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Oakhale.

Myra, Henry, Bryan, Freya, Christa, and Vicktor still slumbered within its halls for there were none who roamed the town of Kakariko in the earliest hours of the Morning. Goats could be heard bleating over the wooden fences of the nearby stable though the shepard boy would not wake until the break of Dawn to take them out into the green pastures of Hyrule Field.

Crickets chirped and cuccos lazily plucked at the earth but offered nothing but brief passing glances as the travelers crossed through their group. Link held his cloak about him tight for the cold, damp, Morning had not been forgiving. Navi was safe, warm, and secure inside one of the Lordling's saddle bags for the wind had proven too much for her tiny body. She was asleep, of that Link was sure, for she had not made a single noise for nearly an hour.

"He should be at the gate." Rowan's voice sounded from the child's left. The Knight led his own steed and Lincoln's as well. Thomas remained quiet with an uncommon steeled gaze seen only within the shadows of a hood drawn about his handsome face. He allowed only a glimmer of a smile as a shadow loomed ahead with a torch in hand. Rowan turned to his brothers, quickly, and pressed a finger to his lips in a silent command to allow him to do the negotiations.

A malformed face shined ghastily in the orange glow of the torch held in a large meaty palm. The man's bottom jaw jutted out in an almost agonizing way to reveal a set of mangled, yellowing teeth. His eyes sat back as far as his sockets would allow while a sickening dip in the skull hinted at past trauma as the skin grew taught and pink against the blue-white of the man's natural flesh. Dressed in a white cotton short sleeved shirt with brown overalls over it and dark boots, the man ushered the Hudsons closer with an odd sort of smile. "You boys are the Old Bird's, I take it?"

Rowan frowned at the casual way the man spoke to them though it did not seem to faze the younger Knight, Thomas. "We are. We have been led to believe you can grant us passage... at a price, of course."

"Well, heh heh, a man cannot do all his favor's for free, am I right, m'boy?" The deformed man chuckled, brown eyes moving to the boy atop the horse. "You there. You're to be our new King, aren'tcha?"

"He is the boy engaged to the Princess." Rowan spoke, returning the odd man's gaze to him. "You are... Dampe, correct?"

His skin twitched above his eyes where no eyebrows grew. "Yeah, I'm the gravekeeper."

"Then name your price so when can be on our way."

Dampe frowned. "You're a serious fellow, aren'tcha?" His brown eyes swiveled about as if looking for something far beyond their heads before he returned them to Rowan's face with a smile. "If it's a price ya want, Lord Knight, then it's a price you're gonna get." The flame upon his torched roared as he twisted, quickly, and ushered them to follow him with a mischievious smile that Link did not trust.

Thomas took the reins from his brother and glanced up at Link. "Stay on your toes, Little Link." His eyes danced oddly with a kind of exhilieration inside them but his mouth remained taught with lines of worry. "It may be best if you abandoned the horse."

Link nodded, slipping from his steed, and helped tie the creatures off to a nearby post where a trough awaited with what appeared to be clean water. The young Lord followed after Rowan with Thomas at his heels. Navi would be angry if she awake to find them gone but he hoped they would be back before then... "Thomas?"

Brown eyes glanced at him though the Knight did not speak.

"Why haven't I ever heard of Dampe before?" He whispered as quietly as possible though it was to no avail. He had been heard.

A throaty chuckle came from the deformed man at the lead and he turned to the boy with a snarl like smile. "_That_ is because children have little buisness with Death." Their guide returned to his same pace taking them through a blunt path carved between the houses of Kakariko and so close to Oakhale that Link swore he saw Myra's face peering down at him from her window. "Ah, but that did not stop them from thrusting you within Its grasp, eh?"

"Mind your words, Gravekeeper." Thomas warned, brows tipping down to crease angry lines on his face.

"I meant no harm." Dampe smirked, leading them up a set of uneven steps parallel to the skeleton of an unfinshed house. "I've heard this is to be the good Bryan's new home... any truth to the rumor?"

"We have no time for chatting. Let us get to where we are going so we can access a reasonable price." Rowan spoke through teeth clenched in frustration. "We are running on short time."

"Then we are going to the right place." A left next to an empty cucco pen revealed a stone wall with a crude archway cut into it. It was large enough to bring a chariot through though it was clear that the stone was never intended to be hacked through for large chunks of the brick lay to the wayside.

"The graveyard?" Thomas frowned, brown eyes jumping to the green of Rowan's. "Why there?"

Dampe chuckled, a deep rattling noise. "Afraid you may see someone you know?" His brown eyes turned to the thirty year old and a sadness twinkled there. "The only things that move here are Ghosts, Young Hudson... Ghosts and Shadows." They continued onward while the coldness drew in around them... deeper and colder every step closer.

The sea of stones were not unfamiliar to the boy for he visited it nearly twice a year to pay respects to the previous Ladies of White Tower, Brienne and Johanna. It was a tradition though not an especially cheerful one for it was a painful reminder to Evangeline, Link's own mother, that she was not the only woman who held Raven's heart. This was not a place he enjoyed seeing for three years past he had buried a stillborn sister and two years before that another of Anju's own miscarriages. The graveyard loomed ahead... a place of nightmares and regret.

A large sign carved with words Link paid little heed to... it mentioned something of the Shiekah and of the Royal Family but all he could see was the white Masoleum with the name "Hudson" carved atop.

Two portraits of two lovely women hung with melted candles beneath them with wicks barely able to be burned though it housed more bodies beneath in the two story vault below.

"Lost in thought, boy?" Dampe asked, his deep smokey voice drawing the ten year old from his memories.

"My family is buried there." He managed to mumbled out. Red memories flashed... screams, pleas, silence, and blood... everywhere. "I h-have a sis-sister... there." Tears came unbidden to his eyes and Link let two of them fall before he wiped them away angrily. Rowan's hand settled with a comforting weight upon his shoulder and Link smiled, gratefully, at him.

"I've known your family through your misfortunes for many years, child Lord." Dampe nodded, the sad glimmer shining in his eyes once more. "That's not a fact that I'm particularly proud of."

"Thank you, Gravedigger... Now," Rowan continued, almost gently in the way he spoke though Link was sure it was because Rowan was feeling some of the same emotions he felt."If you would, please, tell us the price of our passage."

Link glanced backwards toward where he thought Thomas stood but found his brother was not there. A quick scan of the surrounding graves found the Knight kneeling before the family crypt in prayer. Lincoln dropped his own head in remembrance.

"My price is quite simple." Dampe spoke, shoving the torch into the holder at the gate. "You see, I made a wager many, many years ago with an uncle of yours, Varys. He died without paying me." The gravekeeper crossed her arms and nodded toward the place where Thomas was standing. "He is buried inside and within his tomb is a parcel wrapped in fine, silk linen. Retrieve it, return it, and I shall grant you passage."

"You ask us to desecrate a grave?!" Rowan cried, hand shooting up and into his hair. "That is bla-"

Dampe shook his head. "No, I'm not asking you to break in, sonny..." A large meaty hand slipped into one of his brown pockets and retrieved a ring of a hundreds different colored keys. He clamped a simple, silver one between two fingers and held it out toward the Knight with a smile. "I'm the Gravekeeper. I bury the dead, tend to the stones, and keep them safe. I, however, don't open them unless directed to do so by the King." His brown eyes glinted and he smirked. "He is your Uncle so you may do to him whatever you please. Go, now, and get my prize and you shall receive your own."

"And that is all?"

"That's all." He assured them, holding a hand out. "Do we have a deal, Lord Knight?"

Thomas paused as he turned and met Rowan's gaze. "Make it."

"It is a deal." Rowan took the meaty, calloused hand in his own and gave it a solid, rough shake with a determined look in his eye. The key was removed from the ring and placed in his hand. "I shall be back momentarily." The redhead turned on his heels and have a brief pause. "I shall go." His eyes met Thomas' and they exchanged looks that Link could not read. "I will be back within five minutes..." The brothers passed one another as they ascended and descended the hill, respectively.

Link watched with worry dancing on his face. "Becareful, Rowan."

"He is always careful, Little Brother." Thomas smiled, putting the hood over the boy's head. "Th-" The Knight scowled as his sentence was cut through.

"Oh," Dampe called, hands crossed over his weak looking chest. "A warnin' to you: the shadows are not always what they appear!"

Coblat eyes watched as shadows sealed in Rowan's fleeting form... the crypt was opened and the boy wondered what ghosts had crept out.

The room, carved of pale marble, smelled of dust and felt like ice. Green eyes could not pierce the blackness but the Knight knew were the torches were and did not falter in his calm steps to retrieve one. Spark rocks replaced the fire spell he was not comfortable attempting and soon a flame was born... shedding light upon the portraits of the lovely Ladies of White Tower.

Johanna and Brienne.

The Knight bowed his head before them, closing his eyes to their visage, and prayed. "Lady Johanna, I do not know the shadows that lurk below my feet and pray that you help guide me upon a safe path... I wish I could have known you, Mother." He took a short breath. "Lady Brienne, I knew your love since I was but a babe... keep me beneath your wings now as I venture down into these crypts..." He swallowed and rose he head. "I will meet you both, again."

For years he had waited for a sign that either had heard him. He did not have time for such a luxury as he turned his attention to the vault entrance. The door was ornate, carved rather then set with steel work, and proved heavier than the Knight would have otherwise thought he had not nearly dislocated an arm opening it. Rowan sighed, peering down into the dark depths, and offered one last glance at the faces of his two mothers.

Then into the pitch black he walked.

Calm rows of names were his path though faces and memories were few. The torch brough unwanted light to the realm of the dead and it was not long until Rowan's pointed ears heard their protest in the harbor of a phantom wind. They hissed and growled, called and cowered, some cried, and others questioned... Rowan did not answer them.

He remained strong on his path and closed his mind to the images he swore danced at the edges of his vision... The shadows were not what they seemed the gravekeeper had warned and the Knight was not foolish enough to ignore such advice. Twice, Rowan swore he saw Lady Johanna; thrice, Brienne's voice called; and four times each sang his lullaby... but their ghostly entrappings and found himself at his destination.

_LORD VARYS_

_May he find the peace he fought for_

Rowan red brows furrowed as he tried to dig deep for any memory of an Uncle. He called a mention of his Father having an Uncle who had died in the War but did not know if this man was the same. The Knight sighed. "I pray you do not haunt me for this, Milord." Then jammed his blade into the crack between the marble wall and Varys' stone.

The thirty-six year old toiled hard for several long minutes before he could pry the plate away but he was soon greeted with the smell of death and a shiver of revulsion. A decorative coffin sat wrapped in red satin looking largely undistrubed... a sight that unnerved the Knight for he would be the one to defile the corpse's peace. Murmuring one last prayer, he gripped the crimson sheet and tugged it away from the casket... he wedged his sword inside the lid and pressed down on the hilt.

The wood relinquished, easily, and a ghastly howl echoed through the tomb.

_"Lordssss, shhhhould not sssssteal." _

The words, that blood curdling whisper, moaned from the Knight's left... and soon green eyes meet the pale, yellow of a Poe. His sword tore away from the casket and pointed at the monster's face while lips snarled in a feral threat. "Begone from me or else I shatter you."

If a face could have been seen inside that dirty, grungy purple shroud then it would have smiled at him with little worry... the lamp clasped in its four, misty, black claws sprang to life with an audible 'WOOSH' and the yellow orbs swirled within the hood. _"Can you shatter what you cannot sssssee?"_ His sword lashed out only seconds too late as the specter vanished before the Knight could blink. Its lantern spun in violent and heated circles, nearly maiming his face in the process as he ducked away, as it released a merciless, teasing laugh. _"Sssscatter me, Lord, sssshatter me, cut at me, and claw at me."_

Rowan growled, gripping his hilt strong with his right hand. "If you so wish it." The confines of the vault made it difficult for his hard swings and with each movement the coldness seem to rush into his body no matter how fast he worked to hack away the monster continuing to lash out at him. The Knight connected with the lamp striking out at his gut but his shoulder collided with the stone wall, jarring him. His green eyes squinted shut for the briefest moments but that was all the Poe needed.

The lamp jerked away and swung down without an pause... cracking across the man's skull, viciously.

His vision darkened and his jaw cracked together in the most painful of ways. Stars danced about his eyes but his sword stayed locked tight in his grip. Rowan had felt worse wounds... and so, sending out a quick prayer to Din, he stabbed out with his iron weapon...

Ragged breaths coiled out in white mist from the redhead's lips and the Knight of the Realm chuckled. "Thomas is not going to let me live this down." Groaning from the cold and the crack his skull was sure to have, he stood upon wobbly feet and returned to the opened grave of his unknown uncle.

Ignoring the bones the brushed against the tips of his fingers, he wrapped his hands about the item Dampe had described. Rowan tucked it in his belt without a second glance. He did not care to know what seemed so important to the gravekeeper that the man would keep Knights from offical Family buisness. Quickly, he put the grave back in order and turned to head back up to his brothers.

A second spared for another look upon his birth Mother, Johanna, and the woman who raised him, Brienne.

He wondered if he would ever look upon their faces, again.

Rowan stepped from the crypt, pressing down the lever to drop the marbel door back down to seal it, and smirked when he saw his youngest brother's face light up. His green eyes rolled to the gravekeeper who looked amused.

"You look like you saw a ghost." Dampe chuckled.

The knot throbbing on the top of his skull pulsed and the Knight frowned. "A 'ghost' is much different than a Poe."

The strange man closed his eyes and shrugged. "When you deal with them night after night then there isn't really a difference."

"Some would think differently." Thomas growled, "Ghosts are loved ones, Poes are corrupted spirits of concentrated hate."

Dampe chuckled. "We are all corrupt, Lord Knight, some of us just control our temptations better...or," His brown eyes settled into the cobalt blue of the ten year old boy before him. "you could say, learn to keep our darkness at bay." He smiled, sinsterly. "I wonder if that's what I see in those eyes of yours, boy."

Link scowled at the man. "What do you mean?"

"He is a old, crazy, man." Thomas spoke, gently pushing Lincoln behind him and provoking a glare from the gravedigger. "Now, Dampe, if you would unlock the gate so that we may leave. We are not here to play games."

Again, the man shrugged. "Of course, you aren't." He laughed. "After all, the Fate of the Kingdom isn't a game, eh?"

Link's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, slightly, while his mind raced with a thousand questions quickly surprised with a simple: "What?"

"Your sister, Myra... I belive... though you Hudsons all look similar... told me about why you three would be passing through." He turned on his heels and men followed behind with various degrees of emotions upon their faces. "At least some of it."

"You have was-"

"For my services and keepin' my mouth shut she said I could request a prize." The deformed man shook the wrapped item at them with a toothy smile. "So, I got my prize." He threw the key at Rowan when they finally reached the gate and laughed. "Morning is going to be here in about an hour... you better get a move on then, eh?"

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_I wanted the crypt to be eerie but not ''campy''... then again I think I cramped it in too much... ugh, I'll learn to pace things right eventually._


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N:_

_Guys, I am so sorry that it took so long to post this but I have rewrote this chapter SO many times. At first I was going to write about the Hudsons ascent but I thought that would bore you to death... so I decided to skip forward a bit... I hope you really DO enjoy this chapter because I worked hard to make it not so boring as the last few were._

_Please, R&R. Propose some changes you would like to see, maybe?_

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Eyes of blue cobalt shot open and a scream was swallowed down where it became engulfed in the sea of emotions rolling about in the youngest Lord of White Tower's gut. His hands, scrapped and even slightly burnt, brushed through his hair as the ten year old sat up with a groan. His whole body hurt from the almost tortuous ascent up Death Mountain. Tektites were not an unusually dangerous foe as long as one knew to stay away from their bite... but when one is dealing with several at a time it can be hard to avoid all damage.

Luckily, Link had his brothers at his side. Thomas and Rowan had kept many of the creatures at bay while Navi helped Link find the weakest points on the ones he had to face... despite the protection the ten year old had somehow found himself with a bruised rib from a spill he took fighting. That, however, was the worse of his injuries.

Lincoln was indeed sore. That was all too apparent to him but he shoved the aching of his body away to think about his dream. It still persisted and even though he had so many other things to worry about... his nightmare was at the forefront.

Especially since he could now identify the girl on the horse.

Zelda.

"It's good that you are awake." Rowan's voice cut in and his green eyes caught the fire light outside the cracked door. His red hair was dark from the water dripping from it and clung to his cheeks as he dried it with a small towel. "Come down... The Gorons don't have much in the ways of food but they have hot springs..." He smirked. "The water will make you feel a lot better, Little Brother." He opened to door and allowed the light to spill into the room which caused the youth to cringe. "Besides, we are going to need your help convincing Darunia to open that door."

"I thought Thomas-"

"Thomas gave up nearly an hour ago..." A frown. "And now he is asleep by the door... I was on my way to throw this bucket of water at him." The wooden pail was given a small shake. "When Navi came to tell me you weren't waking up..." Concern filled those emerald orbs and Rowan sighed. "She... She said you were having another nightmare."

Link frowned, hand lingering on the scars on his neck from when he had first experienced his night terror. "This is the first time in a while..."

"You should take the draught th-"

"More draughts?" The boy threw his covers off himself, revealing the long night-shirt he wore, and hopped down from the bunk carved from stone. The Gorons slept, ate, and lived on rock... so the Hudsons had to make due. This had not helped the soreness or the lad's sleep and, at that moment, it did not help his temper either. "Rowan, I am tired of having to rely on those- those... _damn_ potions."

The Knight rose a brow at his little brother's curse but made no remark instead he gave a sad sigh. "Then I cannot help you... You will have to fight them yourself..." A pregnant pause filled the space between their gazes until Rowan took a deep breath. "I have to go wake Thomas... we will make breakfast soon... go wash up and come find us. Navi will be along any minute."

"Where did she go?"

He chuckled. "She was trying to find a way into Darunia's room, of course." Green eyes gave a meaningful look. "Navi is going to come to you... please be careful if you happen to get lost. Goron City is safe for the most part but there are rooms that not even Thomas or I go into... understand?"

Link frowned. "In other words wait until Navi comes to get me then go straight to you. Yes, I understand."

"Good." The door creaked as the whoosh of air from Rowan's departure pushed it.

The ten-year old stared at the spot where his brother had stood with a contemplating expression. "Zelda... if I am on the road to stop that man... then why are you still running in my dreams?" Resigning to the knowledge that he may not know until he returns, Link managed to light a torch with his spark rocks before Navi flew into the room mumbling to herself. The Lordling crossed his arms over his chest and rose a brow. "A Rupee for your thoughts?"

The Fae paused and turned her head with slightly confused face. "You don't have to pay me..." Her eyes widened and her lips formed an 'o' of surprised. "OH, this is one of those weird Hylian sayings... isn't it?"

Link smirked. "You have lived with us how long now?"

"My brain is too fried at the moment to attempt any sort of calculating." Navi frowned, running her fingers through her hair so that it remained out of her face. "Two years or so..."

"Are you 100% sure of that?" Link laughed, watching his friend glare at him. "Any luck finding a way into Darunia's room?"

"Maybe?" Navi shrugged, fluttering with her grey eyes still half hazed in thought. She shook her head. "I'm not even sure it'll work but it won't hurt to try... so how about you get dressed and we'll go try it out, hm?"

He glanced down at his night shirt and laughed. "Not Lordly enough for you?"

"Get dressed, Your Lordship." Navi rolled her eyes and slipped outside to give the boy some privacy. While he was gone she thought on how she may approach him about his reoccurring nightmare but eventually she decided it was better if she waited until he brought the topic up.

To her surprise, he did so as she lead him to where she remembered the other Hudsons were cooking breakfast.

"When are you planning on questioning me? It's unlike you to go so long without speaking your mind."

The Fae glanced at him and stopped so that the two could let a happily, humming Goron pass. "I wanted you to bring it up..." She waved her hand to usher him forward. "I know that you don't like taking those potions Darion gave you-

"But?" He was already scowling.

"_But_, I think you should keep taking them."

Link's face contorted in an angry grimace and his blue eyes turned icy though Navi refused to allow it to intimidate her. "I am not going to continue to-"

She knew if she let him finish then he would win the argument... so with a harsh tone she cut him off. "_Listen_ here, Lincoln Hudson, you need all the uninterrupted sleep that you can get. You are entirely too stressed out for a ten-year old and if I can't keep you smiling then you in a permanent state of _pissed off_ or, worse, a nervous wreck. You are going to keep taking those draughts because you cannot afford to let those dreams drive you crazy. We'll worry about those dreams when _we_ can do it together." Her voice broke. "I am _so worried about you_, Link. You are my partner. You are _my world_. I love you. You are my brother, my family. You hurt and I hurt. We live, we hurt, all together... Got me?"

Link snatched Navi out of the air and pressed her to his chest. Squeezing only as hard as she could handle. "I love you too, Navi... Calm down... I'll take the draughts... for now let's eat... okay?"

"Okay. It's settled then." She broke the embrace as best a Faerie could and smiled. "Follow me... if I remembered correctly then we are almost there!"

The Lordling followed, sighing and shaking his head as he did so. He knew this day was not going to be ordinary.

The Gorons they passed were chatty, happy, bright kind of people but there was a nagging sense of sadness that seemed to lurk in the corners of the cheery halls decorated with murals of precious stones and paintings of what looked like self portraits. Link stopped at one and frowned. "This is missing stones..."

"A lot of them..."

A hiccup sounded and large brown eyes set in skin looking more akin to Baltic brown granite than the flesh pink set on Link's own bones. Those brown eyes, speckled with spots of green, were tears threatened to brim. The face disappeared as quickly as it was seen and it left the two companions confused.

Navi rose a brow. "You don't think...?"

"This may have something to do with Darunia... we need to get there fast."

"Not before you eat." Navi warned while shaking one fist before pushing him forward as best she could. "So let's go, yeah?"

Thomas was the first to noticed them as they looked up. His brown hair was dripping and his dark chocolate-colored tunic was thrown over a rack set up crudely by a "fireplace" which was nothing more than a hole cut straight down into the volcano. The thirty year old Knight was sitting, cross-legged, on the floor on what looked ato be folded blanket. "Sleep well, Little Link?"

The boy glared, knowing full well what his brother meant. "Perfectly fine." A little short of a speaking in a low growl, Link unclenched his teeth and sighed. "Don't worry about me." Navi's tiny weight on his shoulder was a comfort though her whispering about his bad temper annoyed him.

Rowan chuckled. "You do realized how hard you make that, don't you?" He sat across from Thomas, between them was a low table of carved from quartz, and was spooning in a stew that smelled odd to the ten-year old. "We have worried about you since you were born, Link, and if you think you bring engaged is going to change than..." Thomas smiled and they laughed before Rowan finished. "You are sorely mistaken."

"I hate you both. You're both too happy." Lincoln took his seat, ignoring the tongue that Thomas wagged at him. "What's in that...?" The Lordling finally asked as the two Knights feasted on their food.

"Meat... of some kind, beans, gravy, and what ever spice Rowan decided to threw into it." Thomas shrugged, taking another spoonful into his mouth and swallowing it. "This would be where I remind you, as the responsible Knight and adult that I am, that you need to eat... and that you cannot hate something if you do not try it."

Rowan rose a brow. "So, is that why you and Xav-"

"Shut up. Shut up, now." Thomas glared, stabbing his spoon into his brother's chest. "That was taken out of complete context. I am a _Ladies_ man."

"Bu-"

"We are _not talking about this in front of our little brother!_" Thomas shoveled his stew into his mouth, glaring at the red-headed laughing Knight, and huffed.

Navi smirked, rolling her eyes. "Is it just me or do you both slowly become two-year olds the further you get away from the Castle?" Neither entertained her with an answer but she enjoyed the mixture of offended and angry looks she received. "Oh, my Goddess, you both are hopeless." The Faerie then turned to her best friend. "Anyway, Link, you do need to eat."

"I know." Though he did not have an appetite, Link managed to finish the plentiful portion that Rowan poured into his bowl. The three Hudsons cleaned up their messes, Thomas put his tunic back on, and soon all four where on their way to Darunia's room. "Have you two noticed anyone... eating the mosaics?"

Thomas rose a brow. "I have seen them missing stones but I haven't seen the Gorons actually eating them, no... although that is an interesting development."

"Speaking of an interesting development, I heard that Dodongo Cavern collapsed." Rowan's features were set in a serious way and his emerald eyes lost the mirth that had previously had.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Collapsed? We would have been informed of that before we even arrived. That isn't women gossip, you know. That is a tragedy."

"But, that would explain Darunia locking himself up... wouldn't it?"

Link shook his head at Navi. "No, as far as I know the Royal Family has a good relationship with the Gorons... my Father is personal friends with Darunia... well, at least he was with Darunia's Father."

"Even still, we would have been informed." Rowan stopped at the doorway before the entrance to the lowest level. A curious spinning jar twirled in the center of the room before the only shop in the entire City and Link lost his train of thought as he watched the vase. "I am a Knight of the Realm,"

Rowan rolled his eyes at this but did not interrupt.

"It is my sworn duty to help all Peoples. Darunia would have asked mine and my fellow Brothers In Arms help... though I am sure the Gorons would be able to deal with rock all on their own since it is part of their diet." Rowan glanced down at Link and frowned. "However, the disappearing gems in the mosiacs are a curious clue."

"All the more reason for us to get an audience with the Big Man."

Link nodded and walked with his brothers toward the stone slab that served as the Goron Leader's door. The ten year old saw nothing that gave any hint of opening it and after a while he grew frustrated. "I am going to go ask a few Gorons-"

"We already have." Rowan sighed, both hands pressed against the only cold stone in the entire City.

Link scowled and walked away. "You probably did not ask the right questions."

Rowan raised a brow as the ten year old walked away then turned to Thomas who merely shrugged. "Navi, go with him, please."

"Already on it!" The Fae shouted, zipping off after the boy... It was then that she noticed something peculiar. Her grey eyes stared up at the ceiling where an odd platform suspended far above. "What... the- HEY!"

Link stopped and turned. "What?"

She pointed up. "Do you think...?"

Catching what she was hinting at, Link nodded. "Yeah, I do. Come on!" Together, they dodged Gorons as they raced up the spiraling pathways until they arrived breathless at their destination.

A lone Goron sat, looking quite pitiful, peering back at them. "Hello-Goro, what are you doing up here, Goro?"

Navi rose a brow. "Why does he-"

Link hushed her with a finger and smiled as friendly as he could. "Hello! My name is Lincoln Hudson. I am the Lord Raven's son... We are here on business with Darunia. Would you happen to know why he is not allowing visitors?"

The Goron, his round form looked like smooth brown limestone, did not hid the tears that suddenly shed. "Yes-Goro, I know, Goro... Our food supply has been cut off, Goro. We are hungry- Goro! Big Brother must have taken that delicious, red stone with me, Goro... all I wanted was a taste, Goro, a little bite!"

"You tried to eat the Spi-"

"Navi." Link frowned, "Hush." The boy sighed. "Thank you... I am sorry... don't worry. We here to help!" He smiled even as Navi glared at him. "Do you know the way into your, uh, Big Brother's room?"

"His room, Goro?" The tears were evaporated but the dark streaks on his stone face remained even as the Goron wiped at his cheeks. "He said he would only let the Royal Family's Messenger in, Goro... He sent a letter to the King, Goro, earlier yesterday."

Link smiled. "Thank you!" As he turned away he heard the Goron shout out.

"Please, hurry, we may starve... I am so hungry, Goro!"

The ten-year old did not know how long the Gorons had been without food but he did not care. They were suffering no matter how hard they tried to hide the fact.

Thomas had a busted lip when Link arrived, breathing hard and flushed, and both brothers made a face at the other before asking, simultaneously, "What happened to you?"

Link took a deep breath and told them of the Goron hanging far above their heads. "You?"

Rowan chuckled. "He slipped trying to push the door and collided with the wall."

Thomas scowled. "I can-"

"Be quiet for a moment." Link broke through earning himself dagger eyes from his brother. "The Royal Messenger... he plays a song to show he is-"

"Yes!" Thomas exclaimed, before wincing and pressing his tunic to his lip to catch the fresh droplets of blood bubbling from his wounded lip.

Link slipped his hand into the pocket sewn into his green tunic and retrieved the ocarina Saria had given him. He approached the door, pressed the instrument to his lips, and played a tune he had not known would be so important...

Zelda's Lullaby.

He pulled the ocarina from his mouth and waited. Navi perched herself atop his shoulder, resting a hand against his cheek, and whispered. "Do you think Impa sees the future? Because that is just weird."

The door opened before Link could respond and when he turned to his brothers they were smiling.

"Looks like we may not be as needed as we thought, eh, Thomas?"

Thomas smirked. "I make him laugh. You get to be his nanny."

The forty-year old smacked the back of the brown headed Knight then proceeded to walk forward, pulling Link along with him. "Put your Lord face on, Little Brother. Here is where your brains shall truly be tested..."

The shadows were dark when they first entered, leading Link to believe that Darunia had just been sitting in the dark. Torchlight soon spilled in and illuminated a cozy room with a thatch rug beneath their boots. The walls were decorated with various finger painted murals depicting a festival of some sort... it all seemed cheery in comparison to the grim look sitting upon the Goron Leader's face.

Darunia's skin was a hard brown, volcanic rock. He had the symbol of the Goron, a diamond with three triangles above like a crown, that were burned into his hard flesh. He had smokey quartz growing from his head that looked very much like a beard that matched the spikes ascending from the middle of his head. His eyes, like his People's, were glossy like smooth pebbles that shined blue. His mouth was set in a firm frown and he glared at the entering Hudsons. "You are Raven's boys, aren't you? Hmph, I was hoping you were the King's Messenger..."

Rowan took the lead as the eldest which Link was grateful for. "Yes, we are. We arrive-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. The little tyke is getting married to the King's little tyke for what ever purpose." Darunia's eyebrows, darker than his skin tone, furrowed down and his mouth twitch, angrily. "Hmph, as happy as I am that you Hylian's are rejoicing, we Goron have worse problems than-"

"What ever help you need than you shall have it." Thomas cut in and crossed his arms over his chest as if to protect his ribs from Darunia's clenched fists. "We came here to request your presence at the Royal Wedding to show unity amoung Hyrule bu-"

"No, HE came here to request it." Darunia thrust a finger at Link and glared deep into the boy's cobalt eyes. "If he is going to be King then I expect him to at least impress me."

Fighting the urge to run from this towering Rock-Man, Link stood firm and countered. "What will impress you then?"

"Nothing a shrimp like you could do."

Rowan opened his mouth to return the Goron's attention to him but Link held his hand up to silenced him. Darunia was doing this on purpose he was sure. "You have no idea what I am capable of." Link's pride swelled up and his temper hissed. He was not going to be made to look like a child. "Will it and it shall be done."

Thomas frowned and stepped between the two's intense gazes. "He's a brave boy, that is without a doubt, Darunia, but he is still a boy." The Knight did not acknowledge the growl he heard behind him from the boy. "We've heard a sinister rumor, _friend_. About your Caverns... is that what as you so... frustrated?"

"That is our business." Darunia's eyes narrowed. "I don't need another _charmer_."

"Charmer? What do you mean?" Rowan asked, eyes flashing to Link who shared his same look of worry.

"That Gerudo King, Ganondorf, was here to ask for the Spiritual Stone for the same reason you are here- _Unity_." Darunia's fist clenched, harder, and Link could swear he could see blood dripping from his hands. "When I refused, he caused a rock slide and covered our Cavern's entrance... Dark Magick, hmph, a coward only hides behind such power... and this would not be such a problem if he had not _infected _it." A large hand was banished out and he shoved his hand away. "He is a friend of the Throne and so the Throne shall not be a friend of mine until the Ganondorf is here to pay for his crimes! We cannot eat any Rocks on our Mount... that are poisoned and so we shall die unless the infection is cleared." His growled. "Edric shall do that _himself_. No other."

"Surely there is anothe-"

Darunia snarled. "Get out. You sweet words, sicken me!"

Rowan shoved his two Brothers out with a sore expression and as the door slammed behind them all released a breathe that had not know they were holding.

* * *

_The next chapter will be much better... it gets a bloody. ;) I hope Darunia wasn't too OOC. I wanted him to be grumpy and angry... which would completely suit a leader in his predicament... he will show his jolly side though! See you next time!_

_Much love,_

_Queaky_


	24. Chapter 24

_(A/N: This did not go according to play AT ALL. I had completely planned to introduce the boss... hmm.  
_

_I have had this chapter read for a few days... well mostly ready. I have been debating on how I was going to write the dungeons for a long time and whether or not I was going to allude to the Master Quest version. I choose to use the Master Quest version and the original OoT if merely to add a little more detail. In the future I will detail more adventures in the dungeons but they will never be a room after room in full detail. We have, at least I assume, all played the games and my objective here to make a story based on the game._

_I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! _

* * *

The rest of the day was spent keeping their minds from Darunia's anger. Rowan and Thomas both tried to approach the Goron again but, once Thomas returned with a possible concussion from being thrown out, they stopped.

Before night set, they returned to their room but Rowan wished to try once more to talk to the Goron Leader. He departed and left Thomas, Link, and Navi to silence. This was broken, shortly, by the young Lordling.

"What did Darunia mean by the rocks being poisoned?"

Thomas, unusually serious, placed his hand on his little brother's shoulder and squeezed. "Dark Magick, " His voice was soft and Link could not place the emotion on the thirty-year old's face. "is... hard to explain." The Knight shifted, sliding his back down the wall so that he sat next to the ten year old, and sighed. "But, the simple version is this: Life is an energy and magick takes that energy and manipulates it to the user's needs or wants. Hylians have the ability to pull this energy out but few know how to harness it..." Thomas dropped his arm across Lincoln's shoulder and allowed Navi to settled herself in the nook of his neck. "Those that do can make things like fire or perhaps mend small wounds... now if they are trained properly in the art and, dedicate themselves to learning the energy pathways of the world, they can become great sorcerers. These people can cure illness, control the wind, create an inferno, and even shield themselves with nothing but pure magick."

"Even bring people back from the dead...?" Link asked, his wide with wonder. Ever since he was a boy he was amazed by magick and when he met Navi he even became jealous. She could conjure a whole campfire where he had to work create a spark with rocks.

"And that is where it gets confusing." Thomas shifted, giving a brief nod of acknowledgment to Rowan as the man strode into their room looking worse than he had when he left. "Magick can be used for many good deeds and one would think that bringing the dead back would be good... but it isn't. It is unnatural."

Navi nodded. "Even my People shun it." When she saw that Thomas was allowing her to take the lead of the conversation, she flew out so that she could face her friend. "Faeries are born from the life, the energy as Thomas called it, of the Forest. This is very similar to how the Great Deku Tree created his children, our friends, The Kokiri..."

"So you can create life but you can't save it?" Link frowned. "What is the difference?"

Rowan turned his head from where he was laying on the carved stone bed provided. "The difference is that the Great Deku Tree took the lost, ancient souls wandering in the Forest from the first years of Hyrule's creation and gave them bodies. Long ago, they ceased to be what they formerly wore... whether demons or our ancestors... so, being given life himself by the Goddesses, he was allowed to care for these lost souls as his children. He created Life from _soul_s." The Knight of the Realm sat up and made sure to make eye contact with Link. "When a Magick user brings someone back from the dead they are animating a body that not longer has a soul. It is a shell filled with the last emotions that they felt... or perhaps implanted emotions if the Spell Caster is talented enough."

Navi wrapped her arms around herself. "However," And the ominous sound of her voice brought all of eyes to her. "Ganondorf did not bring anyone back from the dead... Darunia said that the Caverns and all the rocks were infected. Poisoned. That means he has done something vile inside the Cavern... there must be a source of the Dark Magick threatening it."

"Like Gohma." Link whispered, dropping his head into his palms with eyes wide in disbelief. "That's how he poisoned it..."

"That was exactly my thoughts." Navi noddded. "He is going to murder the Gorons like he did the Great Deku Tree."

Thomas shook his head, shoving off the ground, and clenched his fists. "No. We will stop him. Tomorrow we will go to Darunia and ask if there is another entrance to the Caverns... and we will find that monster and we will snuff. it. out."

Link closed his eyes and felt the weight of the Kokiri Emerald in his pocket. He had his brothers here to help him... they knew the threat that Ganondorf posed... but they did not know why he was here, not truly. He made up his mind at that moment and waited until his brothers retired.

It was near midnight when Link began to ready had challenged him and he was going to rise to it. He would prove he is not some child to be dismissed.

A black tunic, matching cloak, black boots, his shield, sword, belt pouches filled with various items, and gloves to protect his hand from the hotter rocks. Link grasped the doorknob and whispered a prayer. "Farore... keep me safe..." He released a breath and slipped out.

It was dark but the wooden railings on the side helped guide him down. He wanted to speak with Darunia: alone. Link could feel his heart hammering in his chest but he swallowed any fear that might have escaped. He knew he needed to be like a steel hammer if he was going to crack a rock.

A lone beam of light spilled across the stone and dirt floor.

Darunia was still awake.

Careful to evade the spinning jar, Link stepped in and into the light. Cobalt blue met the shining pebble like eyes of the Goron Leader's and he almost faltered... but something inside him helped each foot walk forward until he was before the Goron.

"Well?" Darunia raised a brow looking no more impressed than when they had met before.

Summoning up all the courage his young ten year old frame had, Link spoke with a stern voice. "You wanted me to impress you." Link drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground, hand on the top of the hilt. "Something tells me that I can't do that if my brothers help me. So," He smiled. "I am here to clean up Ganondorf's mess."

"You?" Darunia frowned and for a moment Link thought he may punch him... but then a sound as loud as thunder bubbled up from the Rock-Man throat. He was laughing. "YOU?"

A dent was made in the boy's pride... he should have expected this. Ignoring the roaring laughter, Link smirked. "Yes." Then he smiled as a thought hit him. "Unless you're afraid a ten year old can defeat a monster that the great Darunia is so _afraid_ of."

In an instant the laughter stopped and the Goron glared. "I am not _afraid_ of the monster, you stupid kid. I am _terrified_ of it. You would be an idiot if you weren't." Darunia crossed his arms and sized the child up. "Still... despite you being so, haha, _tiny_... you got guts."

"Will you let me take up this task, then?"

"No." Darunia shook his head. "Your Father would kill me and the last thing I need is a war with Raven Hudson." He shooed the boy with his hands. "Now, get out. I am not in the mood to play Dungeons and-"

Link growled, ripping up his sword, and thrust a finger out. "Listen here, you big Pebble! My family may think I am here to talk you into going to my damn wedding but I'm not!" Darunia blinked at his outburst but Link continued despite feeling suddenly very childish. "Ganondorf has murdered the Great Deku Tree! If you weren't so stubborn maybe we could have told you that earlier but, no, you threw us out before I had a chance to talk to you. I am here to help destroy that man and his ambitions!" He sunk his blade back down into the ground and snarled. "So you either let me take up this task in the name of the Crown or I go down there myself and show you just how _tiny_ I am!"

They were interlocked in a battle of gazes. Darunia smirked, breaking their eye contact, and crossed his arms. "Like I said you got guts, kid... tell you what... if you can complete one simple little task then I'll let you take Edric's place."

"What is it?" Link felt his hands go clammy as he stood there. His brothers could wake up any moment find out about this... which would probably end in his murder.

"Play a song that I can _feel_."

The boy gaped. "You have _got_ to be joking."

"That's my terms." Darunia shrugged, indifferent. "Do it or you and your brothers leave tomorrow, Shrimp." He spun Link around and gave him a 'light' shove that almost toppled him. "Until then stay out of my room."

Link walked out with a frown. He could leave and go on to the Cavern but he did not know how to get into them through the rock-slide... he hoped that if he could this than Darunia would tell him another way. "A song he can feel, huh?" Link sat down next to the shop and slipped his ocarina from his pocket. "What does he mean by that?" He stared at the smooth, wooden object and bit his lip. After a few minutes of tinkering around with a few tunes and thinking on how the Rock-Man seemed, Link removed the flute from his lips. "He needs something to cheer him up!" He scrambled up and dashed toward the room with a smile that he could not have. "Darunia."

The Goron had moved to a table to the left of him and had been sorting what looked to be blue prints. "Shrimp."

"You wanted a song that you could _feel_, right?" The ten year old did not wait for an answer. "How do you like this?" Pressing the ocarina to his lips, Link played the one song that made him feel the happiest.

Saria's Song.

The tune reverberated out and harmonized with itself. The sensory memories locked in Link's head filled him with the smell of the forest, the dirt beneath his toes, and the warmth of the sun as it poured through the Deku Tree's canopy. He remembered when the Twins and Saria taught him to swim, when Fado coaxed him to walk with her across the bridge to her look out, and even just chasing Saria's Fae, Allievander. His heart swelled and he would have never noticed Darunia had the Goron's fist not come within inches of his face.

"OHHH YEAHH!" Link could not believe the vision in front of him. The choleric Darunia, Leader of the Gorons, was flailing in a fashion very similar to what a man would do thrown onto hot coals... in what some would refer to as: dancing. His massive arms windmilled as he teetered back and forth between his feet and all the while he was screaming at the top of his lungs. "THAT IS ONE HOT BEAT!"

The ten year old plopped back onto his behind and watched, dumbstruck. His mouth dropped open, his eyes popped, and he shook his head. "D-Darunia?"

Beaming from ear to ear, the Goron stopped then realized what he had done. His face seemed to glow with inner heat as he resumed his previous serious demeanor. "Ahem... my... apologies... I have not enjoyed good music in some time."

"I... uh..." Link swallowed and his face crimsoned. "Noticed..." He gave a nervous smile. "Does this mean I can take up Edric's quest?"

Darunia recovered after a brief; very awkward; pause and let a small smirk crack across his stony face. "Yeah, kid, a deal is a deal...even if I wasn't entirely serious about it."

The boy stood, dusting off his tunic, and breathed in relief. "Now, that we are... amiable and that has been taken care of... Is the covered entrance the only way into the Dodongo Cavern?"

"Yeah, it is." Darunia frowned. "If we had made another we could have been attacked unaware during the 100 Year War... and now that it is infested... it would be dangerous."

Link sighed. He had not planned on this development. "Then how am I to get in?"

Darunia sighed, eyes watching the boy for a moment, then he smiled. "Listen, kid, I like you. You're brave... and maybe you _can_ do this... take these, alright?" He crossed the room to where a small chest was hidden beneath a table and withdrew golden set of long bracelets bears the very symbol burned on the Goron's arm. "The only way that I can think of that would let you into the Cavern is blowing up that boulder... but I won't make any promises to you. These will let you pick up our lovely Bomb Flower... they grow all over the mountain so it shouldn't be too hard to find some. Just be careful. They are not toys."

Link smiled, slipped the cold gold bands around his wrists, and saluted the Rock-Man. "Thank you, Darunia... I'll be back. I'll clear out the Cavern for you... I promise." And dashed away.

"Kid!" But Link had not heard him and Darunia's hand flopped down at his side. "If he can even get in there... he'll see the monsters and leave... Yeah... he'll come back and..." He stopped his train of thought and sighed. "Good luck, kid." Already he was regretting letting the ten year old go.

Link snatched an unlit torch from the wall and gave it life with his spark rocks. He took a breath. "It's now or never." And ran.

He jerked the map Zelda had given him from his pocket and stopped just outside the entrance to Goron City. He allowed himself a moment to gather his breath before he turned to his right towards the path indicated to be above the Cavern... Link frowned as he gazed down into the abyss below him. The moon allowed dim light to pour across the mountain top but not enough for anyone intending to blow a hole into a large chunk of rock.

"Damn." He looked down at his map to double check himself and once that was done he began his search for these so called 'bomb flowers'... it was not long after that he found them. They were a cluster of purple-black petals in the shape of a bomb with an odd orange stigma that looked very much like a fuse. The youth frowned and ripped the plant up from its roots... he released a small yelp of surprise when the wick suddenly lit. "B-But, I'm not ready!" Link stammered and looked, frantically, for a good place to toss the object over. Realizing, he had mere seconds left, Link threw the flower as far as he could and watched it until the fuse disappeared. He held his breathe but when no explosion came he released it. "Maybe it was a d-"

_KA-BOOOOOOMMMM_

The fiery blast illuminated the scene in a collage of shadows, smoke, fire, and rubble as the entrance to Dodongo Cavern opened.

The exhilaration he experienced at watching the explosion sent shivers down Link's spine and a new vigor was introduced to his bones. Adrenaline.

"So, did you intend to do this all by yourself or should I come with you?"

Link whipped around to face the angry Fae at his back and gasped. "N-Navi! I-"

"Save it." The Faerie glared. "I know your usual excuses already." She smirked. "Really, you don't have to worry about me, Link. I'm your Partner... it just hurt is all..." She flew and, lightly, bumped her fist against his cheek. "I'll kill you after we're done with this, okay?"

He beamed. "Deal. Let's go."

Together, by torchlight, the friends descended into the dark madness that awaited them. Link banished his sword and stabbed into the eye of a leaping Tektite and tossed it corpses off the mountain. "How close?"

"Next turn. Let's hurry." Navi murmured, folding the map and stuffing it into one of Link's pouches. "Rowan and Thomas probably woke up to that."

Link's face dropped, guiltily, as he sprinted forward with sword in hand. "They won't wake up to that..."

Navi gasped. "Link, you didn't."

"I have plenty more draughts..."

"Why did you do that?!" She exclaimed, hands leaping to her short, spiky blue hair.

"I..." The conflict the waged in his mind made it hard to formulate a sentence on why he did not want his brothers to come with him. He felt like this was his weight to bear... the Deku Tree had entrusted _him_ with the Kokiri Emerald, _he_ had the nightmares about Ganondorf, and that voice... that voice... '_We have need of you.'_. In the very depths of his soul, Link knew that this was what it meant. That he had to protect the Triforce... Zelda. He did not have any words to explain the way he felt so he ran in silence that forced Navi to focus more on keeping up then yelling at him. Link could feel the furtive glances she sent him but he shoved them from his mind for his guilt to fed on later.

The black leather boots he wore rolled rocks beneath him and Link caught himself on a nearby wall. His chest heaved from oxygen deprivation as he skidded to a halt in front of Dodongo Cavern. It glowed like the pits of Din's Seven Hells and the heat that radiated off of it cleaved at his skin...

"Link... you can wait. We can wait for Thomas and Rowan... you don-"

Lincoln unsheathed his sword, squeezed his shield in his right hand, and braced himself against the hot breeze as he charged forth.

-Across the plains of Hyrule-

The moon was tucked away behind the mountains and to the northwest the Sun was preparing his relentless heat. Bronze skin rippled across a strong, feminine form as it glistened in the pale light of early dawn. Golden brown eyes peered off into the desert in quiet contemplation.

The woman stood in the doorway at the topmost part of a fortress carved from the red canyon it was cradled against. The small amount of light allowed very little of the desert beneath her to be seen but she knew her Sisters were there patrolling.

Touching the amber stone just above the center of her brow, she sighed. Inwardly, she prayed for patience in such trying times for her People. The nights were getting colder, the sun hotter, and everyday it seemed a new struggle formed... The Treaty was supposed to fix that... but it had yet to come to pass.

The Hylians wanted a wedding... a way to secure the Throne in case Ganondorf tried to attack, Nabooru knew this. She had heard it all... yet she had not told her King. She suspected he knew but, then again, he knew a lot of things that he was not telling too. The Gerudo woman calmed her thoughts as she finally decided to acknowledge her unwanted shadow.

For behind her, a figure lurked with flames in its eyes, watching.

A pony-tail; tied high on the back of her head; of dark-red locks swayed softly as the woman turned to raise a brow at the shadow. "Stop staring." The Gerudo warrior snapped before leaning her toned body against the cold stone and crossing her arms. Golden bands glinted on her upper arms, intricate bands with two large rubies set in the center, that matched the decoration holding up her hair and choker. Being the Second-In-Command had many perks for a Gerudo and lavish jewelry was no exception. "It's rude and _annoying_." Her lips, painted light pink, snarled. "Two things that you are best at."

A deep voice chuckled and the figure stepped from the shadows. "Such hostility, Nabooru, yet I have done nothing to harvest it." Ganondorf, dressed in the fine silk of a crimson robe, smirked at her. His chest was exposed revealing his strong chest and small, curling red hairs.

She hated seeing him look at her with such superiority and only marred her face more by glaring. "Nothing, huh? You call abandoning Hyrule Castle 'nothing'?" Nabooru snorted, thrusting her body around to face him. "Let me amend what I said then. Rude, annoying, and _stupid_." He did not react to her name-calling just as she knew he would not. "Honestly, we should let them have their little wedding then we can get this damn Treaty over with." Pinching her her thumb and forefinger just an inch apart, she growled. "We are this close, G-"

"Disrespect me all you want, Nabooru, but you _will_ call me King."

"_Your fucking Highness_." She spat, one hand grasping her hip while also allowing her to place her fingers ontop of the hilt of her scimitar. "But, no, you let your pride get in the way so now we are here." Her fingers stopped pinching and stabbed at the ground beneath her feet. "A week. That is what that kid wanted, right? We could have waited the week and smoothed things over with Edric."

"Do you truly believe it would have been as simple as that?" The olive-toned man, calmly, carried himself over to her then side stepped so that they were nearly touching elbows. His red eyes burned out toward the Desert as he clasped his hands behind him. "Our People are known as vicious warriors, correct?"

Nabooru turned and gave him an annoyed point-blank stare. "We are Gerudo. We are also known as thieves," She ticked her list on her fingers while she stared. "murders, amazons, _oh_, and _evil_." She frowned. "With you going around and spooking little Princesses, I'm surprised we aren't known as _beheaded_."

Ganondorf disregarded her comments and closed his eyes, continuing. "We are _warriors_. We are a proud People who have known suffering and have tasted little of the success blowing through Hyrule's fields." He opened his eyes and glanced sideways are her. "Would you call that fair?"

"Nothing is ever fair, G- _Highness_, that is why we are thieves. We take the cards we are dealt and change them when we can." She glared. "If we lived like those soft Hylians than we would not be the Gerudo. We are a _proud_ People, like you said."

"Then... you do not want their gold? Their Power? The right to banish those who have done wrong in your eyes?" Ganondorf gazed at her... almost through her. "There is a Power there. A Power that could avenge the suffering of our People..."

Nabooru frowned. "We are there for the Treaty. A peaceful solution... not for blood... and not for some magick _thing_."

"Of course." He replied, turning his gaze back to the dunes lightly dusted with the pink of the dawn. "The Treaty shall come to pass..."

Nabooru did not let him see the worried expression she wore as she walked back into the confines of the Gerudo Fortress.

Her room was small enough to house a wooden bed, a chest for storing her clothes and jewels, and a desk. Nabooru treasured few things though she was granted many liberties as Ganondorf's Second in Command and often gave the things she plundered away for sheer lack of room.

She was his proclaimed "trusted" adviser though he refused to tell her much of anything... like the reasons he disappeared so suddenly two days ago or his sudden reappearance when no one had seen him ride in.

She questioned him, fiercely, on the subject but all that earned her was his anger. Nabooru often tread in dangerous waters by talking to him the way he did, she knew that. There were others, however, that had not survived the gale of his Powers. Gerudo women who had been strong, brave, and Sisters to all of their kind. Those women walked in dazes now with little mind of their own. They were slowly outnumbering the ranks of the free... and she was not sure who she could trust any longer.

There was War brewing and it was in her own ranks.

The door opened without a knock. Few cared for walking in on others undressed, they were all women, but it was usually a courtesy offered to Nabooru if only because she ranked higher than everyone excluding their King.

"Aveil?" Nabooru raised a brow, sitting down on the edge of her bed and leaning back against her palms. "I thought you were still negotiating with the Carpenters?"

"I am- Well, _was_." Aveil was dark skinned, had a prominent nose, lips that seemed in a constant pout, skinny frame, and dark eyes. She was the tallest of the Gerudo and one of the quickest thanks to her leaner frame. "But me and the rest of the girls were asked to return since the King returned." Aveil was nearly twenty, eight years younger than Nabooru, and was one of the few women that could be trusted. "How long have you been back?"

"Does your visit have a point?" Nabooru blinked, expectantly.

"If you're going to be a bitch then _no_." Aveil countered, glowering.

"Get to the point and I won't have to be."

Aveil kicked the door shut behind her and crossed her arms. "I was here for a quick catch-up but, clearly, something is wrong. _So_," She draped herself across Nabooru's bed and propped her head on her elbow. "want to tell me about it?"

"No." Her nerves were agitated and she had little interest in entertaining tonight. "I want you to get out."

Aveil frowned. "Nabs, are you-"

"I'm _annoyed_ right now, Aveil, and you're not helping!" She flung herself up and turned; suddenly angry for so many reasons that she could not articulate. "Just leave me alone, okay?" The Gerudo spoke more softly but kept the sternness in her golden-brown eyes.

"Fine." Aveil, lazily, slipped from the bed and walked back to the door. "Before I go... You might want to know that Koume and Kotake were lurking around earlier... " Her hand spun about. "I saw crates being moved into the Training Grounds... Do you think they are moving back here?"

Nabooru did not answer. She had too many thoughts going through her head.

"I just thought you might want to, you know, know that." With a bit of a frown, the Gerudo departed Nabooru's room and left a lingering sense of dread.

Dread was not a normal emotion for a Gerudo to feel... They were a race of confident skill and personalities. They had little regard for those not of their kind and, though they were not wanton killers, they did not hesitate in destroying outsiders when needed. Dread was not a useful emotion and, especially, not during peaceful times.

The War between her People and Hyrule was over but the wounds were still fresh on both sides.

Ganondorf was slowly snipping away at the stitches... and if he was not careful one or the other was going to bleed out.

She did not know if he cared which one.

Nabooru, finished pacing across her floor, glanced out the single window carved in her wall and watched the red of the sunrise bled into the last traces of the night. She wondered why he allowed her to talk to him the way she did... she surmised it was probably due to her rank. If the other Gerudo noticed they would revolt... or worse Edric would suspect something.

She was merely a disrespectful shield. He needed to to keep his cover and he knew she would not attempt to stop him until she was entirely sure of his motives.

He had spoken of a Power... that was why he was gone for the last two days. She was sure of that but Nabooru knew Ganondorf's methods. He employed whippings, quickly, and used black magick where physical beatings would fail.

She hoped he had not jeopardized the Treaty... but Hope was a useless emotion as well.

Once he had been a good boy... but when his Mother died he was taken in by the Gerudo's Shamans, Koume and Kotake. They had long moved out across the Wastelands and into the Spirit Temple and that was where they took the young Gerudo King. Nabooru remembered that day as she clung to her own Mother's leg and watched the weeping nine year old walk, sullenly, behind his new Mothers.

That was the last time Nabooru saw any emotion besides anger in him.

"A week. That's what that kid asked for... four days remain..." Nabooru sighed, leaning against the wall and peering out passed the dunes. The _Spirit Temple_ used to be a place where she could go for answers. She loved the feel of the place and exploring it... few Gerudo were skilled enough to survive entering but Nabooru had breezed through it.

That was why she claimed Ganondorf's Second In Command.

But there was always a place she was forbidden to go... because the power there was not hers to take...

"But, I am a Thief..." Her spin tingled at the moment... Nabooru's lips parted slightly in a gasp and a realization came to light in early Dawn.

Dodongos.

Link hated them. Absolutely hated the creatures with every fiber of his being. His forearm hurt from a sharp cut that wrapped around it and that did not account for the burns he had experienced from not only their breath but their corpses exploding. Navi had attempted to warn him the first time but he had not heard her over the sound of its babies attacking. Needless to say, he found himself flat on his face in the midst of chaos with his hair partly on fire but Navi kept him on target by keeping him calm so that he could focus on each opponent.

Now he stood at the highest point of the Cavern and stared down at the pristine skull of a long dead creature that gave the cave its name. It was the skeleton of a Giant Dodongo mentioned in a legend Link once read though he could not remember who had slain the beast.

"Gohma had been the source of the Deku Tree's death and since we have seen larva of the same species..."

Link frowned at the memory of the last hour. Keese, Lizafloes, 'Mad' Scrubs, Armos, Keese on _fire_, walls on _fire_, _him on fire_, and that did not mention the unexpected appearance of Gohma's spawn. He had dispatched the hatchlings with ease but it lended more truth to Ganondorf's involvement in the Goron's plight. Thinking back on his fights, the Lordling was surprised he had not found himself dead... had he came in alone like he initially planned he would have been forced to turn back.

Darunia would have mocked him.

"Ganondorf has been here... " He pulled himself from his reverie and moved his cobalt eyes to the tablet Navi's glow illuminated. "We'll have to hope he has not reached the Zoras too."

"Let's focus on the Gorons for now..." Navi frowned as she read the inscription written on the stone jutting out from the ledge they stood upon. "We haven't found anything that emitted the kind of magick that she did... that means it must be deeper inside."

"You mean he has hidden it?" Link questioned, slightly confused. "He wasn't that careful before..."

"Yes, I do, and because he expected it to kill everyone." Navi replied, color shifting between uneasy and sadness. The thought of the Great Deku Tree did that to her.

"When Gohma was destroyed all the creatures in Kokiri Village disappeared... that must be how we will cleanse this place too."

"Exactly."

Link glanced down at the inscription and frowned. "Why would he leave this then?

"I don't know..." Navi whispered and shivered despite the nearly unbareable heat. "Perhaps he knew-"

"He couldn't have!"

"But what if he did...?" Navi bit her lip. "What if he does and he's testing you?"

Link clenched his fists together. "Test or not. He is not getting the Triforce. I won't let him hurt anyone else that I care about... The Great Deku Tree was the first and he is the last." His eyes continued down the stone.

_Our brothers died in combat's heat_

_against the beast or another's feet_

_and though this monster took their lives_

_it shall guard them till those who survived_

_are carried _

_beneath the creature's burning eyes._

Link nodded to himself " And, if this tablet is any indication then it means we need to lit those eyes on fire."

"That is taken pretty literally..."

"Do you have a better idea?" He asked with an irritated twitch of his brow.

Navi sniffed, thought a moment, and shrugged. "There could be a switch but we've been all through this place." Her lingered on the pale bone for a moment. "This is going to be hard-"

"Considering those monsters made a meal of my bow?"

"Bombs then." Navi nodded, scratching at her scalp with a calculating expression.

The discovery of the explosives was a tragic one. They had been attacked by Baby Dodongos crawling from the depths beneath and though Link tried to dispatche each one he ended up dodging most out of fear he would find himself blown to bits. When the babies finally retreated back into the earth inside the Cavern, Link saw a sight that made his blood run cold. A skeleton of a lone Goron was strewn about the hall in a grisly scene that hinted to the poor soul's demise. While gathering the bones into a pile, Link came across bombs kept in a bag made from the strong skin of the creatures he had just fought. He finished the pile, removed the burned and tattered cloak he wore and wrapped the pristine bones in it. He thanked the Goron for the bag for he knew it would assist him at some point and whispered a prayer before Navi reminded him that they must hurry.

For a moment, his thoughts wondered back to the bones lying beneath his cloak just a floor below. Link wondered if he or she had attempted to eat the rock infested with Ganondorf's magick and if that had killed him then perhaps they had been set upon. He did not dwell on it and allowed his friend's voice to lure him away from thoughts of Death.

"Wait... could you even hit it from here?" Navi crossed her arms and gave him a doubtful look. "That's pretty far."

"Clearly, you don't remember how well I throw." Link lit the fuse and smirked at her then tossed. "This is the only option we have left."

"I remember how you almost blew your arm off a couple of times today... like with that staircase."

Link chuckled, eyes watching the bomb as it neared its mark. "Almost. But I didn't."Hitting its target, the explosive went off.

The bone did not even crack and as the smoke cleared an eerie, ruby glow took hold in the socket. Above them, the ceiling rattled in protest as if some raging giant lurked beneath the mountain.

Link shivered. "That's disturbing."

"Watching you eat is disturbing."

"You still snore..." Link gripped another bomb in his hand, the leather of his glove squeaking, and launched it toward the next socket... for a moment he thought he had missed... but then a resounding boom shook the entire Cavern.

He was prepared to gloat, a rare thing for him, but as he turned with a cocky grin a rock landed between him and his Fae.

"Link, we have to get down from here _now_!" Navi cried, jerking his ear and spurring him into movement.

The ten-year old felt his knees collapse out from under him as the ledge shook and threatened to drop away. "Got it!" Pillars of rock rose and fell from around the large, circle platform made of stone that held the monstrous skull. Link prepared himself and leapt from the ledge.

The colors of the lava far below blurred together with the brown-black rock as the earth beckoned him to crash but his timing had paid off. The pillar caught him as it rushed toward its greatest ascent and then crashed to the ground long enough for the boy to leap away to where the remains of his first enemy still smoked.

A Beamos is what Navi had called it.

If it had not been for her Link would have been burned to death several times by that point. If she had not been filled with the invaluable information pounded into her head from long nights studying in the libraries available to her then they both would have died. Too her credit, Navi knew the exact weakness of everything they had met and had even reminded Link of the Deku Nuts Henry had given him.

Barely a breath after he had jumped on the large center platform another rumble shook the cave. Debris crashed, lava boiled up and threatened to spill over the rim of the horse-shoe like shape river it flowed through, and the jaw of the skull shook. Its sharp teeth chattered together and the red eyes glowed with more intensity than Link had ever seen the color...

The jaw dropped open.

"L-Link..."

He gulped , gazing into the dark area that had once been a monstrous creature's mouth. "Yes?"

"Are you sure about this?"

Link removed his shield from his back and gripped it in his hand. Its metal had once been painted black with a single, white tower painted in the center but now it bore scars from recent battle. His sword, the Kokiri Sword, glinted and he tightened his grip on the hilt. "Absolutely." Link gazed at his Faerie and gave her a faint smile. "Will you come with me?"

"Link," Navi landed on the top of his shield. "don't be stupid." Stepping back off the metal she flew toward the mouth and gave a small laugh despite the danger they had been in. "Besides, its not every day you get eaten alive, right?"

The boy made a disgusted face. "We will joke about that _after_ we survive this."

An ominous screech sounded and the boy rounded to see a Lizafos leaping across the lava via the fallen rocks. Its sword glinted in the light though the creatures yellow eyes glowed with more danger for they promised vengeance.

"Come on, let's go before it gets here." Navi beckoned Link with her hands and gasped when it looked as if he was going to turn to face the enemy. "Link...?"

He nodded, still meeting the Lizafos' eyes. "I'm coming..." And as his boot heels rapped against the bone, he prepared himself for the monster that cursed this place.

* * *

_(Guys, I hope I'm not boring you. I realize there hasn't been any action in these chapters but I hope to get better! :)  
_

_Also, I felt really silly writing Darunia. I remember that being one of my favorite cut scenes and I had not planned to actually write it but it was such a classic that I couldn't write Darunia without it. I hope I kept true to the award-randomness of it. lol_

_The next chapter will probably be a bit shorter than this but as I am currently writing it and going over it daily I am not sure... Oh, and I realized I have been spelling Nabooru's name as "Nabooro" which irks me. Really, really irks me. I cannot believe I did that.)_


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